MF Outlook Deemed Favorable in Southern Cal

Southern California is in a period of long-term growth for multifamily real estate investments in which biotech/biomedical and defense industry employment will be "major" drivers of housing development, according to an economist at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.Stephen D. Cauley, associate director of the Anderson School's Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate, said the growth arises from demographic trends. "We are in a period of sustained growth of portions of the population that will demand apartments: lower-income families who will never be able to afford homeownership, and young, highly educated professionals," Dr. Cauley said. He reported that per-unit prices for typical apartments in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties rose more than 20% in the past year. The forecast was presented at the fifth annual UCLA Multi-Family Housing Forecast Conference in Los Angeles. The Ziman Center can be found online at http://www.zimancenter.com.