Rent and Operating Trends – Week of January 1st 2023

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Welcome to 2023! We at Radix are very excited for the year ahead and cannot wait to continue our growth story in the months to come. We thank you for being part of our journey and we look forward to continuing to provide the best data, analytics and platforms we can to help you make the right decisions for your property operations and investment.

 

As we look ahead, there will undoubtedly be challenges for the multifamily industry in the coming year. The macro-economy continues to soften driven mostly by persistent inflation and the resulting monetary tightening. For much of the past 14 years, interest rates hovered at or near zero. The elongated stretch of easy money allowed many companies to form and grow and other companies to achieve historic valuations. Those days are most certainly behind us, and while I do not think inflation or interest rates will remain as high as they are today, I do not see an economic situation arising that would warrant zero interest rates for quite some time, if ever. We will likely see additional softening in the employment market, although it remains a strength of the overall economy. Investment activity will also slow as buyers and sellers grapple with new interest rate expectations and challenges persist on how to value properties in the current borrowing environment.

 

While the economy and multifamily market has changed drastically over the past year, many of the demographic and social trends continue, domestic migration being one of them. According to Uhaul’s annual one-way truck rental analysis, Texas, Florida and the Carolinas were once again the most attractive destinations for movers in 2022. California, Illinois and New York saw the most outmigration as the coastal gateway markets continue to lose population to more affordable and less regulated locations. Overall migration slowed last year compared to record highs in 2021, however the same trends carried through, with the sunbelt benefiting from midwestern and northeastern outmigration. Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona and Georgia were all in the top 10 states for in-migration, while the popular southwestern states Colorado, Utah and Nevada ranked 11th, 12th, and 13th respectively.  

 

The multifamily industry had a quiet week last week as expected, with most leading indicators showing little if any changes. New leases signed and net effective rent were unchanged last week, while traffic, occupancy and leased percentage fell modestly. I anticipate greater activity in the coming weeks as the new year begins.

 

Key Takeaways – Data as of 01/01/2023

 

Traffic and Leases:

  • Traffic fell slightly in most markets last week, however there were a handful of sunbelt markets including Orlando, Austin, and Jacksonville where traffic increased. Not only did these markets outperform in the last week, but they maintain higher traffic levels than the national average, a further indication that elevated migration is impacting apartment operations.
  • Jacksonville, Austin and Raleigh saw an increase in leases signed last week as these markets continue to have strong conversion rations to go along with the lofty traffic numbers.
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Occupancy and Leased:

  • The national occupancy rate fell another 2 basis points last week to 94.33%
  • While the overall trend in occupancy remains negative, there are some glimmers of hope as 9 of the top 30 markets saw occupancy rise last week, led by Atlanta and Denver.

Net Effective Rent:

  • Nationwide NER was unchanged last week.
  • Rents fell in most markets but a handful of markets did see moderate rent increases last week. Chicago rents grew 50 basis points while Miami rents increased 40 basis points.
  • For more detailed analysis on all of our rent and operating metrics, we will be publishing our 2022 Year-in-Review in the coming weeks!
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Radix Research

 

Radix Research provides a comprehensive and powerful solution for evaluating the performance of live properties and portfolios at submarket, market, and national levels through research. With vast data analytics available, Radix Research offers the most timely and leading data, streamlining the research process for all stakeholders. Data is presented in visual, graphical, and tabular formats for easy analysis and understanding, including interactive maps, customizable charts, and exportable tables, providing users access to various benchmarking tools and data analytics.

 

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