June Rent Payments, Job Additions Top This Week’s Apartment Industry News

For the most part, this week’s multifamily news was cause for more optimism for the industry. Most renters continued to keep up with their rent payments and the U.S. managed to recover some jobs in late May. On the other hand, student housing pre-leasing showed some slowing momentum.

Catch up on this week in multifamily news here.

June Week 1 Rent Collections Are Encouraging

By June 6, nearly 81% of the nation’s apartment renters had paid June rent. That’s basically on par with the same week of 2019. However, the industry is beginning to see some shifts in payments patterns among product class and in certain metros. RealPage Chief Economist Greg Willett provides a rundown here. He also joined RealPage Deputy Chief Economist Jay Parsons in a webcast to discuss payments and leasing trends in the U.S. apartment market. Catch it on demand here.

U.S. Recovered Some Jobs in May

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the U.S. economy added 2.5 million jobs in May. The additions were a pleasant surprise, as many of the nation’s economists expected another month of losses following April’s dismal report. Many of this month’s job additions were in leisure and hospitality, a sector hit hard by restaurant shutdowns since late March.

Pre-Leasing Slows in Student Housing

Through April, student housing pre-leasing tracked very similarly to 2019’s rate. In May, however, pre-leasing fell below the year-ago rate, as only about 70% of beds at the core 175 universities tracked by RealPage were leased for the Fall 2020 academic year. Operators are hoping for a robust summer leasing season to catch up, but many universities have yet to announce their plans for reopening in the fall.

Webcast: Returning to ‘Normal’ Operations

As apartment operators prepare re-open leasing offices, amenities, in-unit maintenance and more, RealPage economists will sit down with industry experts to discuss best practices. Jay Parsons will talk with Camden Property Trust EVP Laurie Baker, AMLI President and CEO Maria Banks, and Kairoi Residential EVP Tammy Freiling on June 16. Register for the webcast here.

For further reading on the multifamily industry, check out these articles.

Owner Expectations Need to Change for Prices to Fall from Real Capital Analytics
U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Fell to 1.5 Million Last Week from The Wall Street Journal
WSJ Survey: U.S. Recovery from Pandemic Shock to Begin by Third Quarter from The Wall Street Journal
Apartments with Ground Floor Retail Take a Hit on Rent Collections from National Real Estate Investor
Moving Across Country During a Pandemic from National Real Estate Investor
NMHC Rent Payment Tracker Finds 80.8 Percent of Apartment Households Paid Rent as of June 6 from National Multifamily Housing Council
Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged and Projects Years of High Unemployment from The New York Times