Industry News | Wk of Feb 5

HOT & RELEVANT TOPICS

Airbnb Cuts Half of San Francisco Listings as New Laws Kick in
Airbnb might have escaped its recent California lawsuit attempt by AIMCO, but things aren’t all rosy for the home-sharing giant on the West Coast. When San Francisco’s exceedingly strict short-term home rental laws went into effect on Jan. 19, Airbnb listings in the city plummeted from roughly 10,000 to about 5,500. The new law requires hosts to register the home with the city for a $250 fee or risk fines of up to $1,000 per day. The process to register a home is considered onerous. Read Steve Dent’s article on Yahoo! Finance.

Why Instagram Stories Belong in Your Social Media Program
In the not-so-distant past, Facebook was the lone must-have source among social media advertising. It makes sense, considering about 80 percent of people in the 18-to-59-age range have an account. While Facebook remains a go-to source, Instagram Stories are catching up. Having accumulated 500 million users less than two years after it was created, the platform allows apartment communities to post multiple photos or 10-second videos into a visual narrative. Read Erica Campbell Byrum’s article on Multifamily Executive.

How Multifamily and Office Buildings Work Together to Build Wealth
Private investors have adopted a formula to weather risks when building a profitable portfolio – enter the multifamily sector. While office buildings can be exceedingly profitable, volatile stocks and bonds can lead to some uncertainty. Investing in multifamily is a way to hedge against any of those potential risks, and the brisk demand for housing and historic low vacancy rates give the strategy some staying power. In some markets, such as Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Denver and Raleigh-Durham, supply is continuing to outpace demand, which make for prime investment opportunities. Read Michael Episcope’s article in Forbes.

IN THE NEWS

As Rents Rise, Advocates in Many Markets Push for New Rent Control Laws
In the majority of the U.S., lawmakers are simply not allowed to create new rules that limit the amount apartment operators can raise rents at their properties. In fact, only five states have rent control in any form as part of their legislature – California, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. But in many of these locales, laws do not apply to new apartments. In California, for instance, a law prevents any limits on housing built after 1995. But as rents continue to price out many would-be residents, expect advocates to seek ways to add rent control to the November ballot. Read Bendix Anderson’s article in National Real Estate Investor.

Why We May See More Multifamily Portfolio Sales In 2018
Many multifamily predictions are rolling in as the year gets underway. Josh Goldfarb, vice chair in Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office, believes multifamily portfolio sales activity will continue to increase. Goldfarb reports that sales activity spiked 34.6 percent in the Southeast in 2017 compared to 2016. While that is a regional-specific figure, Goldfarb believes similar portfolio-sale activity will take place across the nation, due in part to strong occupancies and available capital. Read Jennifer Leclaire’s interview with Goldfarb on GlobeSt.com.

Economy Watch: Multifamily Market Continues to Soften
Although apartment demand and the availability of equity capital remain brisk, many owner/operators are opting to hold back. That’s according to the latest NMHC quarterly survey, which indicated that three of four indexes are below the break-even point of 50. The lone strong index is the Equity Financing Index, which leapt from 46 to 58. That ended an eight-quarter streak of declining market conditions. More ominous: The Debt Financing Index fell from 51 to 38. In addition, half of the survey’s respondents expect green financing to increase in 2018. Read D.C. Stribling’s article in Multi-Housing News.