Multi-Housing News - July 2009 - (Page 8)

market pulse Commentary and Data Supplied by Bernard Markstein, Director of Forecasting, National Association of Home Builders Multifamily Starts 254,000 250,000 200,000 Units 150,000 124,000 100,000 70,000 50,000 Sept. ’08 Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. ’09 Feb. Mar. Apr. May CPI vs. Rent CPI 4.9% 4.0% Percentage Change from a Year Ago Rent 3.8% Rent 3.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0 CPI -1.3% -1.0% Sept. ’08 Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. ’09 Feb. Mar. Apr. May Multifamily Starts: The dramatic rise in the most recent multifamily starts numbers for five units or more—124,000 units (seasonally adjusted annual rate)—represents a bounce back from the previous month’s historic low, revised downward to 70,000 units. Such volatility from month to month is pretty much the norm for this data series. NAHB doesn’t expect a return to the 300,000 level any time soon, since almost all lenders have responded to the financial situation by severely limiting the supply of capital to multifamily developers and builders. Quite simply, companies that can’t borrow can’t build. CPI vs. Rent: The Consumer Price Index is down 1.3 percent from one year ago. The year-over-year percentage decrease for each of the past three months is the first year-over-year decline in this measure in more than half a century. The rental portion of the index has not yet entered negative territory, but it is growing more slowly. The 3.0 percent rise in rental CPI is the lowest year-over-year rate of increase in the past two years. At the same time, it is the largest margin over the rate of increase in the general rate of inflation over that two-year period. To comment, contact Keat Foong at keat.foong@nielsen.com MHN ONLINE For charts and commentary on multifamily starts, apartment vacancies, interest rates and building materials prices, visit www.multi-housingnews.com/marketdata 8 July 2009 | Multi-Housing News | Official Publication of Multi-Housing World http://www.multi-housingnews.com/webcast http://www.multi-housingnews.com/webcast http://www.multi-housingnews.com/marketdata

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Multi-Housing News - July 2009

Multi-Housing News - July 2009
Contents
From the Editor
Executive Insight
Market Pulse
Profile
Market Report
Management
Case Study: Luxury
Finance
Kitchen & Bath
Products & Services
Tech Trends

Multi-Housing News - July 2009