Industry News | Wk of Nov 20

HOT & RELEVANT TOPICS

These Cities May Win War For Amazon’s New Headquarters
Many cities across the nation are clamoring to capture Amazon’s attention and become the destination for the tech giant’s second headquarters, which will be referred to as HQ2. The multifamily impact in the winning locale will be pronounced, as developers will engage in a war to acquire land near the site and build as quickly as possible. A recent article from Scott Cohn on CNBC gave a letter grade to each of the competing cities’ bids, factoring in population, stability, talent and location. No city earned an A, with North Carolina’s Research Triangle earning the highest mark with a B. Of note, Salt Lake City was one of six cities rated a B-minus.

Top 6 Resident Complaints That Will Damage Your Reputation
Reviewers aren’t shy when they take to the pages of Yelp and other review sites, but some of those complaints carry more weight than others. Priyanka Agarwal of J Turner Research, imparting the analysis of hundreds of online reviews, ranked some of the top concerns that most annoy residents. Included were racial discrimination, faulty gates, apartments unequipped for move-in, parking issues and lack of following through by the leasing team. J Turner found 62 percent of prospects refer to reviews at the beginning of their search. Read Agarwal’s blog on Multifamily Insiders. 

4 Emerging Multifamily Products
More than 100 exhibitors gathered at the NMHC OPTECH Conference & Exposition last month in Las Vegas to display various facets of multifamily technology. Among those that could have a pronounced impact, according to IvyLee Roasario’s article in Multi-Housing News, are roOomy, Leonardo247, Luxer One and IOTAS. The products help leasing teams attract prospects and become more efficient. The roOomy platform, for instance, allows for virtual staging within an apartment home so prospects can view different design styles rather than a bare-bones apartment.

IN THE NEWS

Fannie, Freddie to Re-Enter LIHTC Market
In positive news for the affordable housing market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being permitted to re-enter the low-income housing tax credit market. The government-sponsored enterprises were two of the sector’s largest investors in 2008, representing 35 to 40 percent of the market, before the Federal Housing Finance Industry placed them into conservatorship. The LIHTC market has struggled in recent years due to the influx of high-end new development that has significantly pushed rents and forced blue-collar and first-responder type workers away from the urban core. Read Donna Kimura’s article in Affordable Housing Finance.

New Reasons Why Millennials Are Moving To Suburbia
Older millennials are moving back to the suburbs due to a variety of factors. Some have started to have families and are moving away from larger city centers, but that’s not the only reason the coveted demographic is fleeing. Cost, schools and larger common-area spaces are also among the factors, and forward-thinking developers are already planning for this trend and are starting to spread out their high concentration of urban-core developments to include others in the suburbs. Read Pathfinder Partners’ Lorne Polger’s Q & A on GlobeSt.com.

2017 Apartment Renter Preferences Report Unveiled
NMHC and Kingsley partnered to produce the largest-ever survey of apartment renters – it encompassed feedback from more than 272,000 residents – and recently unveiled the results. Among the primary findings of the study: Reliable cell reception is the most craved community amenity, with 92 percent interested and 78 percent claiming they won’t lease without; air conditioning slightly edged high-speed internet as the most important apartment feature; and the desire for package lockers is gaining traction. Fifty-seven percent indicated interest in a package solution and 47 percent said they receive three or more packages a month. See the survey results on the NMHC website.