The Radix Review: Multifamily Trends Explained

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. The Fed Cuts Interest Rates It happened much later in the year than many economists anticipated, but the federal funds ratewas finally lowered last week. At the beginning of the year, it was widely speculated that interest rates would be cut at least once by early summer, but it took until mid-September.  The 50-basis point decrea...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. CPI at Lowest Growth Rate in More than Three Years The consumer price index (CPI) grew by 2.5% on an annual basis in August 2024. It was down from 2.9% the prior month, and it was the metric’s lowest annual growth rate since February 2021. Prices for gasoline and used cars dropped the most from a year ago, both were down more than...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. Another Moderate Jobs Report According to last week’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. labor market added 142,000 jobs in August 2024. While that number is in a decent, sustainable range, the two priormonths’ totals were revised down by a combined 86,000 jobs.  It was another signal that the labor market has co...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. U.S. Economy Stronger than Initially Reported GDP for the second quarter was revised upward last week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The initial report of 2.8% was already stronger than economists expected, and last week’s new estimate of 3.0% suggests the economy is still in good shape despite a cooling labor market. Th...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. Fed Gives Strong Indication of Interest Rate Cut In a speech last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, “The time has come for policy to adjust.” The comment was in relation to an anticipated cut in the benchmark interest rate due to signs the labor market has cooled, and inflation measures have showed sustained downward...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. Moderating Inflation Supports Potential Fed Rate Cut The consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, slowed to its lowest annual growth since March 2021. July’s CPI growth of 2.9% was down from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022. Earlier in the month the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported wages grew 3.6% during the same peri...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report.\ Mortgage Rates Decline According to last week’s data from Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year mortgage hit its lowest level in more than a year. It dipped to 6.47% as of August 8, down from a peak of 7.79% in October 2023. Even with the decline, affordability remains a major challenge in the single-family home industry. I...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. A softer-than-expected U.S. jobs report last Friday sent shockwaves through the investment world at the beginning of this week. At time of publication, all three major U.S. stock indexes were down more than 2.5% as the selloffs that started in Japan spread to other parts of the globe. The movements followed one of the weakest jobs...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. The U.S. economy grew by 2.8% in the second quarter according to the initial estimate of GDP released last week. Consumer spending drove the strong quarterly growth, and the overall GDP increase was double the rate of growth in Q1. Despite elevated interest rates the economy continues to move forward at a strong clip. Speaking of...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. The mid-year employment numbers by metropolitan area were released last week. Job creation is one of the most impactful demand variables for multifamily because it spurs the formation of new households, helping to boost occupancy rates and absorb supply delivered to the market. While the U.S. headline numbers have been solid, year...

Jay and Chris are back with another episode of the Radix Review: Multifamily Trends Explained. Jay and Chris return for another episode of the Radix Review. Chris kicks things off, breaking down last week's rent and operating trends, as the key metrics began to soften nationwide. Traffic increased in only 3 markets last week as the prime leasing season has officially wrapped up. Most metrics...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. Consumer inflation softened in June, drawing more calls for monetary easing from economists and market analysts. The Consumer Price Index fell 10 basis points in June compared to May, marking the first monthly decline in prices since early 2020. The annual inflation rate fell to 3.0%. On the heels of a weaker than expected employm...

Jay and Chris are back with another episode of the Radix Review: Multifamily Trends Explained. As Q3 begins, Chris dives into the recent multifamily trends as key operating metrics have begun to plateau. There are still a few markets outperforming, and Huntsville, AL is awarded the market of the month of June. Strong occupancy and rent growth, combined with the highest leasing activity in the nati...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. The employment market has long been the backbone of the U.S. economy, as strong job gainscoming out of the pandemic fueled significant macro growth. The national unemployment rate fell to the low three percent range, and some metro areas saw unemployment in the two percent range. While we are still adding jobs at a strong clip, un...

Chris and Jay are back to break down the first half of 2024 in multifamily. West coast markets have had a strong start to the year with metros including Reno, Riverside, San Diego, Portland and Seattle cracking the top 5 for many apartment metrics. Detroit and Minneapolis have also been doing well as the midwestern resurgence continues. Jay breaks down the recently released metropolitan level jobs...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. The economy has stayed mostly unchanged through the first half of 2024, as employment outperformed, and inflation and interest rates have remained elevated. The second half of the year will likely be characterized by a series of “wait and see” situations. When will the Fed cut rates? How many cuts will there be? Will the job marke...

Chris and Jay are back with this week's Radix Review: Multifamily Trends Explained. Jay kicks things off recapping the NAA Apartmentalize conference last week. He shares his insights from several client meetings, the tradeshow floor and even a few cheesesteak adventures. Chris breaks down the recent home sale and home price data from the National Association of Realtors. The guys talk about t...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. Home prices rose to an all-time high in May according to data released by the National Association of Realtors last week. The median home price in the U.S. is $419,300, up more than 55% from its pre-pandemic level. Not only are prices at all time highs, but mortgage rates that have remained around 7% have made homebuying exceeding...

Jay and Chris are back this week with a special Radix Review podcast. Jay is live in Philadelphia for the NAA Apartmentalize conference. He breaks down what he has seen and heard thus far, and shares what Radix is focusing on for the week ahead. Jay also details the conference schedule and a few key things he's looking forward to in Philly. Jay and Chris share a brief update on overall apartm...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. Given the potential for a significant change in economists’ expectations heading into last week’s releases, the domestic economy has been relatively steady over the past several days. The CPI was released last Wednesday showing a modest decline in inflation. The Fed announced later that day that they expect to cut rates once this...

Jay and Chris are back this week talking mostly about the economic factors that drive multifamily performance and transaction activity. Chris starts things off with a high level overview of recent multifamily trends before Jay dives deep into last week's jobs report. The May numbers were stellar again, which provides continued demand and support for multifamily. Chris then breaks down the rec...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. It will be a big week for inflation and monetary policy, as the May CPI report comes out on Wednesday. Later that day, the Fed will conclude its June policy meeting with Chair Powell giving a press conference to discuss the current state of the economy and interest rates. There is very little chance of an interest rate cut this we...

Jay and Chris are back to cover the recently released May data across the multifamily sector. They launch a new segment called the Market of the Month, and the first market to receive the honor is Wilmington, NC. Wilmington had a great May, adding nearly 60 basis points of occupancy and seeing rent growth of 1.5%. Each month Chris and Jay will break down the markets and share their views on the be...

This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report. The U.S. economy is starting to flash warning signs of a slowdown that many predicted would come sooner. Q2 GDP was revised downward last week to an annualized pace of 1.3%, 30 basis points below the first estimate in April and more than 200 basis points below the pace of growth from Q1. Key manufacturing indicators are also point...

Jay and Chris are back with another episode of the Radix Review: Multifamily Trends Explained This week's episode of the Radix Review: Multifamily Trends explained focuses on housing demand. Chris and Jay kick off the pod breaking down the recent home sale data from April. High mortgage rates and rising home prices are pushing home sales lower as more would be buyers are priced out of the mar...