Market Intel

Real estate investors often grumble that they have to look at hundreds of deals to find one good one. Even then, they’re usually competing against dozens of other investors, reducing their chances of winning the bid. And if (or when) they lose out, they’re left with nothing but disappointment after wasting thousands of hours on sourcing and underwriting. It’s often an inefficient and ineffective process—one that’s been largely unchanged for years. Now, many frustrated investors

To understand how dire the construction materials shortage has become for the commercial real estate industry, consider the difficulties Joe Pecoraro at Skender, a Chicago-based contractor, faces on a multifamily rehab project. In the first week of August, Pecoraro and his team ordered cabinets for the apartments. Shipping usually takes two or three weeks, but the vendor quoted Pecoraro a six-week lead time. That was still fine — six weeks meant he would get the

The big takeaway from last week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve appears to be that interest rates will rise next year – and that has many CRE professionals asking if cap rates will also go up.  But Jim Costello of Real Capital Analytics is asking a different question: why should cap rates start responding to interest rates now all of a sudden? While Costello acknowledges “there are a number of ways to unpack cap rates,

The big takeaway from last week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve appears to be that interest rates will rise next year – and that has many CRE professionals asking if cap rates will also go up.  But Jim Costello of Real Capital Analytics is asking a different question: why should cap rates start responding to interest rates now all of a sudden? While Costello acknowledges “there are a number of ways to unpack cap rates,

As the oldest Millennials are approaching 40, their needs are changing. Because they have different factors influencing their needs than they did in their 20s and 30s, Millennial renters’ preferences have shifted considerably. Today’s Millennials are renting for longer periods than previous generations. They are delaying plans to get married and start families. But even when entering these different stages of life, a good portion of this demographic prefers to rent, compared to earlier generations

Apartment vacancy has increased for the first time since April 2020, signaling that tightness in the market may be easing.  Apartment List’s national rent index increased by 2.1% from August to September, but while month-over-month growth has slowed, the national median rent has increased by 16.4% since the beginning of this year. Boise, which led national rent increases since the onset of the pandemic, finally saw a decline in rents over the same period. Rents

As the CRE investment climate continues its aggressive trajectory across virtually all asset classes, some industry experts question whether current pricing remains in line with valuation.  But a better question may be what properties are worth overpaying for today, says John Chang, senior vice president of research services at Marcus & Millichap. “Integral to this idea is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Chang said in a recent video breaking down the

The COVID-19 pandemic has made migration a hot topic for all states. Which states will benefit the most from increased remote work? We will not have hard data to answer that question for a while, but now is a good time to revisit a key migration dataset to see how things stood before the outbreak began and to see which states send the most new residents to Arizona.  (For additional perspective, we refer you to

Build-to-rent housing was a hot topic of conversation at September’s Valley Partnership breakfast. Planned from inception to be rental homes, these units typically are grouped together in one area, similar to a master-planned community, and all of the residents are renters. Though the term “build-for-rent” can include townhomes and duplexes, the event’s panel of four experts focused primarily on single-family detached houses. “Five to 10% of new build homes are now build-for-rent,” says Heather Personne,

Nearly all multifamily developers are being hampered by materials shortages and price increases, reports the eighth edition of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) Construction Survey from a poll taken August 25th to September 17th. Ninety-eight percent of respondents reported being impacted by a lack of materials, the highest share recorded since the survey began while 100% of respondents reported price increases in materials for the second consecutive round. The average firm experienced a 13%