2007 National Apartment Report now available

Marcus and Millichap, a leading national real estate investment brokerage company, has released its 2007 National Apartment Report, available as a .pdf here.

Highlights include:

◆ The slowdown in the housing market has led to the return of condos to the rental pool, but a temporary increase in competitive stock is not expected to have a significant impact on apartment vacancy. By year-end 2007, overall vacancy is projected to improve 20 basis points to 5.1 percent, compared with a 40 basis point decline in 2006.
◆ Approximately 92,000 units are expected to be completed in 2007, up from 90,000 apartments last year. While this year’s total could come in above expectations if a large number of condo projects come online as rentals, completions would nonetheless fall below levels reported in the 1990s through 2003.
◆ Asking rents are forecast to rise 4.3 percent, while effective rents advance 4.8 percent. Concessions have declined dramatically in many markets over the past two years, leaving less room for improvement in 2007.

The report also includes market outlooks for individual cities, but unfortunately no Northwest Ohio cities are big enough to make the study's cut. Closest cities profiled are Cleveland, Columbus and Detroit.