Portland unemployment drops to lowest in 3 yrs. Good for #Multifamily Via @hfo_apt_brokers

The Oregonian reports data from the state employment department about the Portland-area’s unemployment level falling to 8.6 percent, its lowest in three years.

Meanwhile, most people are still unaware of a report issued last month by the Oregon Employment Department forecasting an 18 percent increase in employment statewide in the coming decade. See the post here: http://bit.ly/yxMb1y

Thanks to Greg Frick at HFO in PDX

Multifamily rental construction definitely the brightest sector in housing market.

See the Housing Wire piece here:

Seattle Apartment Building Investment Cycle peaking or just taking a breather?

In his Q4 report on the Seattle multifamily market ARA’s Jim Claeys says:

Vacancies and Concessions UP

Absorption and Rents DOWN

New Construction Pipeline UP 140% from year ago

Also Home and Condo Sales UP 41, 70% respectively

Sounds kind of like the cycle is moving to the next phase doesn’t it? See the whole article here: This may be a good time for developers to reassess their projections

FHA Streamlines Approvals on Multifamily loans less than $25M/250 units.

“It’s a huge help,” says Jonathan Camps, managing director of production for Washington, D.C.-based Love Funding.

In the past, any loan of at least $15 million, or any deal of more than 150 units, had to go through the FHA’s National Loan Committee. That threshold has been dialed up to $25 million, or 250 units.

What’s more, any existing FHA-insured loan looking to refinance through the Sec. 223(f) program no longer needs to go through either the regional or the national loan committee.

Good news indeed! See the whole article here: FHA Streamlines Multifamily Loan Approvals

Top 10 Tips for Acquiring Distressed Multifamily Properties

Nice article in MHN Online, good tips and reminders. There are still plenty of properties worth less than the debt, and there are more foreclosures to come. Most of the distressed multifamily properties are B, C and D class properties. These properties can provide great returns with cap rates from 8 percent to 12 percent on existing income, and in most cases have plenty of vacancy for even more upside.

My top two that apply to all properties distressed or otherwise:

Good management: Distressed B, C and D properties require experienced and diligent asset and property management. Your management team should be top notch. Your turnaround plan should be realistic and properly implemented.

Talented leasing staff: Your leasing team should be properly motivated and for lease marketing extremely thorough. You want a well-thought-out, multi-disciplined lease up plan to stabilize properties in this cycle.

See the article here: http://bit.ly/xW6fZp

Maybe hold off on that open plan #officespace. Groupthink takes 2x as long and produces 2x the mistakes-

My cousin Teresa turned me on to this article, basically that for creative work (and learning too) the best stuff happens when we’re alone working uninterrupted. There may be hope for the traditional office building yet… See the whole article here: http://nyti.ms/yBWdxo

Mauldin: Mayan Calander predicts end of Europe… not world. Whew, good thing we’ll be ok- or not

Gallows humor for sure. The article is the best explanation of Europe’s predicament in layman’s terms I’ve read. See the article here: The End of Europe?

Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook “Recession in 2012”.

Housington Investment Management runs about $4B in fixed income institutional money so they pay very close attention to the economy, government as well as fiscal and monetary policy. In fact Dr. Lacy Hunt, co-author of the report, is one of Mauldin’s most highly regarded economists. Here’s the exec sum (see the whole article at http://bit.ly/wM9DIY):

High Debt Leads to Recession

As the U.S. economy enters 2012, the gross government debt to GDP ratio stands near 100% (Chart 1). Nominal GDP in the fourth quarter was an estimated $15.3 trillion, approximately equal to debt outstanding by the federal government. In an exhaustive historical study of high debt level economies around the world, (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 15639 of January 2010, Growth in the Time of Debt), Professors Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart [Again with those two!] econometrically demonstrated that when a country’s gross government debt rises above 90% of GDP, “the median growth rates fall by one percent, and Continue reading Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook “Recession in 2012”.

Is a Gold Standard the Answer to Our Monetary Crack-Up?

My brother Tom shared an article from the Cato Institute entitled: “Why Gold-Defined Money Is the Answer to Our Monetary Crack-Up”.

I agree with the writer in theory but as Yogi Berra said: In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is. A couple points:

With a fixed currency like a gold standard innovation and value creation that grows the economy will be constrained and what growth does occur will cause prices to fall, hurting the producers of goods and limiting real returns to their investors. There has to be some mechanism to grow money supply at the approximate rate of real growth in the economy.

The real problems we’re facing around the world are from excess leverage and at the end of every debt binge the unwinding happens in three ways.  Debt creation can be reduced and austerity can be imposed to make room for Continue reading Is a Gold Standard the Answer to Our Monetary Crack-Up?

DC Multifamily sales surge to $4.7B in 2011, up 1.1B from 2010.

By Daniel J. Sernovitz Staff Reporter – Washington Business Journal

I believe this quote from the article reflects an important trend in multifamily, indeed all residential development, re-development and infill: “People are paying a premium to be within a one-block radius of a Metro station, and properties within walking distance of Metro stations continue to be a strong lure for investors,”…

One thing the article doesn’t cover is where prices are vis-a-vis replacement cost… makes me wonder where they are in their apartment market cycle-

See the whole article here: DC Multifamily Sales Surge in 2011