Apartment Market Showing Signs of Improvement

The apartment market is showing signs of improvement, according to the National Multi Housing Council's latest quarterly survey of apartment market conditions. The survey showed increased sales activity and improvements in the availability of debt and equity capital compared with three months ago. The survey's sales volume index hit its highest level in four years, while the equity and debt financing indices were the highest in three years. Although the report showed that market tightness (vacancies and rent levels) remained substandard, it also showed improvement over the previous quarter. "The broad improvements in sales volume and debt and equity financing suggest the transactions market may finally be thawing," said NMHC chief economist Mark Obrinsky. He added that nearly half of respondents (45%) indicated that the gap between what sellers are asking for and what buyers are offering has narrowed.