Multi-Housing News - October 2009 - (Page 4)

Back from the Brink One year after the Lehman collapse, Americans rediscover apartments Here we are one year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. You know things must be getting better when CNBC starts referring to the worst economic crisis since the great depression as “the slowdown.” While consumer confidence is beginning to improve, and some economists have declared the recession has ended, life has changed radically for so many Americans as jobs continue to be shed. The McMansion has fallen out of favor, small energy-efficient cars are in, and we’re even learning how to clip coupons. People who typically carry high credit card balances are now interested in learning how to live within their means. And there’s a chance that the new consumer habits might be assimilated by future generations of Americans. Certainly these trends will affect housing choices for the foreseeable future. And that’s good news for the apartment industry because it means a larger pool of renters by choice. I recently came across a prescient opinion piece written in 1998 for MHN by former National Multi Housing Council Chairman Gary Kachadurian. In “Debunking the Homeownership Myth,” he argued that the investment value of homeownership is often overrated. “In recent years the stock market has increased much more rapidly than have house prices,” Kachadurian noted. “Too many homebuyers put all their investment eggs in the single basket of homeownership, often with the not-so-subtle encouragement of our government. The explosive growth in high loan-to-value residential lending and the recently increasing residential delinquency rates support the idea that our housing policy may be fueling the flames of unwise housing choices.” On behalf of the NMHC, Kachadurian also questioned the federal government’s single-minded emphasis on homeownership because it might not be prudent, or desirable, for all. “The benefits of homeownership often are overstated, and important drawbacks usually are ignored. When all costs are considered in an applesto-apples comparison of the costs of owning and renting, the historical experience suggests that close to half of all home buyers would save money by renting comparable housing.” As we rebuild the economy and look for more sustainable housing solutions, the apartment industry has an opportunity to shine, as it clearly communicates these benefits to the consumer. GROUP PUBLISHER & SHOW DIRECTOR Daniel J. Corcoran daniel.corcoran@nielsen.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Diana Mosher diana.mosher@nielsen.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Keat Foong keat.foong@nielsen.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jonathan Marsland jonathan.marsland@nielsen.com ART DIRECTOR Michelle Matteson michelle.matteson@nielsen.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Erika Schnitzer erika.schnitzer@nielsen.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Christopher Hosford ONLINE NEWS EDITOR Anuradha Kher anuradha.kher@nielsen.com MHN BLOG Jack Kern Daniel Gehman PRODUCTION MANAGER Barbara W. Lau barbara.lau@nielsen.com 646-654-7308 CIRCULATION Omeda nmhn@omeda.com 800-697-8859 or 847-559-7533 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Natasha Selhi natasha.selhi@nielsen.com 516-682-6041 ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Associate Publisher: Natasha Selhi natasha.selhi@nielsen.com 516-682-6041 MARKETING DIRECTOR Kevin Marty kevin.marty@nielsen.com 516-682-6149/fax: 516-682-6166 ONLINE PUBLICATIONS www.multi-housingnews.com MHN Daily Newsletter MHN Property Management MHN Green Building & Design MHN Finance & Investment REPRINTS The YGS Group Angie VanGorder 800-501-9571 ext. 176 MHN@theYGSgroup.com CUSTOMER SERVICE INQUIRIES For address changes, single copy sales ($10 per issue, payable in advance), and subscription inquiries, call 800-697-8859, 847-559-7533 or email nmhn@omeda.com LIST RENTALS Nikki Miller 646-654-7261 nikki.miller@nielsen.com MHN EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Sharon Dworkin Bell Senior Staff Vice President, Multifamily National Association of Home Builders Tom Bozzuto, CEO The Bozzuto Group Doug Bibby, President National Multi Housing Council Dr. Sam Chandan President, Chief Economist Real Estate Econometrics Terry Danner, CEO Riverstone Residential Leo S. Horey Executive Vice President Operations AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Mark Humphreys, AIA, CEO Humphreys & Partners Architects, L.P. Doris W. Koo, President, CEO Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. M. Leanne Lachman Principal Lachman Associates Clark D. Manus, FAIA, CEO Heller Manus Architects AIA VP/2011 President Steve Patterson, CEO ZOM USA Katherine Perez, Executive Director ULI Los Angeles David Picerne, CEO, President Picerne Real Estate Group Lori Reeves Vice President, Chief Information Officer Forest City Residential Group Linwood Thompson Senior Vice President/Managing Director Marcus & Millichap Diana Mosher Editor-in-Chief MHN ONLINE To share your comments with our readers, email diana.mosher@nielsen.com www.facebook.com/MHNonFB Correction Simmons Vedder Partners is the developer of Domain at CityCentre in Houston. Midway Cos. was incorrectly identified as the developer of the project in our September issue (Community Living). Midway Cos. is, in fact, the master developer of CityCentre, a master planned community. Jack Kern Managing Director Kern Investment Research, LLC Robert Koch, AIA Principal, Fugleberg Koch twitter.com/mhnonline Multi-Housing News Forum President: Greg Farrar • Senior VP, Human Resources: Michael Alicea • Senior VP, Brand Media: Andrew Bilbao • Senior VP, Media & Entertainment: Gerry Byrne • Senior VP, Finance: Sloane Googin • Senior VP, Retail: David Loechner • Senior VP, Content: Scott McKenzie • Senior VP, Building & Design: Joe Randall • Senior VP, Central Services: Mary Kay Sustek • COO, Entertainment: Howard Appelbaum • VP, Manufacturing & Distribution: Jennifer Grego • VP, Licensing: Andrew Min • VP, Client Marketing: Sue Tremblay • VP, Audience Marketing: Joanne Wheatley October 2009 | Multi-Housing News http://www.multi-housingnews.com http://www.facebook.com/MHNonFB http://www.twitter.com/mhnonline

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

Multi-Housing News - October 2009
Contents
From the Editor
Executive Insight
News
Market Pulse
Finance: The Future of the GSEs
Investment: Transactions
Market Report: Midwest
Property Management
Development: Adaptive Reuse
Products
Technology

Multi-Housing News - October 2009