This week’s roundup highlights workforce renter trends, findings from the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University, and an overview of the single-family rental (SFR) market. First, Arbor’s Chatter blog examines the share of lower-income renters across property types, noting that small multifamily properties house the highest concentration of renters earning below $50,000. Next, CoreLogic reports that home prices grew 4% year over year in December, continuing the upward trend that we’ve seen for more than seven years. Another Chatter blog takes a look at the 2020 JCHS report, which focuses on the factors contributing to the affordable housing issues that are facing the nation. Then, Nareit takes a look at the U.S. economy’s fundamentals as of year-end 2019, noting that there is still considerable room for growth during this cycle. Finally, Trepp analyzes the growth of the SFR sector in the post-crisis period and where development activity is taking off in the U.S.

Small Multifamily Represents America’s Workforce Housing Stock

Arbor Chatter – February 4

“Small multifamily promotes greater accessibility to housing for workforce households than large multifamily. About 62% of all small multifamily households made less than $50,000 annually.”

U.S. Home Prices Ended 2019 on an Upswing

CoreLogic – February 4

“Home prices are forecast to rise 5.2% from December 2019 to December 2020 and to average 4.6% for the full year 2020.”

Harvard 2020 Report Underscores Need For Affordable Housing

Arbor Chatter – February 5

“Rental prices hit record highs accompanied by low vacancy rates across the country. The Census Bureau recorded the national vacancy rate declined in mid-2019 to 6.8%, hitting its lowest level in the last 30 years.”

Economic Fundamentals for Real Estate Remain Solid

Nareit – February 5

“A moderate supply of new buildings is helping to keep vacancy rates low and reduces risks of a market downturn due to excess construction in the months and years ahead.”

Single-Family Rentals: What’s Driving this Developing Market?

Trepp – January 31

“SFR issuance volume has grown 15-fold to $7.2 billion in 2018, up from the sum of $479.1 million in 2013 when the first SFR deal was securitized in the private-label CMBS universe.”