Market Commentary

While some market participants raised concerns about market volatility during March and April, the listed REIT market remained relatively calm.  As the market closed on May 5 the 20-day rolling standard deviation of trailing daily returns for the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index was 0.82%, slightly below the median value going all the way back to the beginning of 1999. 

The fundamentals for the apartment sector continue to display strong performance. Demand for rental housing surged in the first quarter of 2015, with the total number of rental units increasing by 1.9 million units. This is the second consecutive quarter of healthy increases in rental occupancy, according to Census Bureau data beginning in 1965, surpassing a rise in rental occupancy of 1.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2007 at the onset of the housing crisis.

After a spate of soft numbers had hinted the housing market might stall, more recent reports show the recovery is back on. If the renewed upturn shows staying power, there are important implications not only for the housing sector, but also for the broader economy… and for REITs.
Sales of existing homes rose 6.1% in March, according to the National Association of Realtors®, to a 5.19 million unit annual rate. 

Multifamily housing starts declined in March, on the heels of a double-digit decline in February (first chart). Winter weather had an obvious impact delaying new construction across the nation in February, but the further decline in March suggests that the recent weakening of some macroeconomic trends, in part due to a stronger dollar and its impact on exports, may have damped builders’ enthusiasm for new projects. 

Commercial property prices continued their steady march upwards in February, according to Moody’s/ Real Capital Analytics. Rising occupancy, firming rent growth, increasing transaction activity and still-muted national supply trends are boosting valuations across all property sectors.

Two steps forward, they say, but one step back. In the case of the job market, March was one very big step back. Total nonfarm payrolls increased just 126,000, less than half the average pace over the past six months. There was one bit of positive news in an otherwise disappointing report, however, as average hourly earnings increased 0.3 percent. 

 Maybe the end of winter weather will bring with it a thaw in the housing market. The latest news gives some hope, at least with respect to home sales and house prices. New home sales increased 7.8 percent in February, to an annual rate of 539,000, the strongest sales pace since February 2008. The housing market appears to have worked off most of the excesses from the boom. Inventories of new homes for sale remain low, and the months’ supply of new homes dipped below 5 months.

Payroll employment beat expectations again as nonfarm payrolls jumped 295,000 in February. Job growth has steadily accelerated, with the average monthly increase over the past 12 months moving up to 275,000, the strongest performance in a decade and a half. The unemployment rate moved down to 5.5%, the lowest since before the financial crisis. The question on everyone’s mind is, how long can this continue before an overheating job market prompts the Fed to put on the brakes? 

The multifamily housing market had a stellar performance in 2014, leaving everyone to wonder what comes next. Would the market take a breather, perhaps, as home sales start to pick up? And how much of a threat does the swelling construction pipeline pose to rents? Recent news from the job market suggests that rental demand has the wind at its back. In particular, employment growth of those aged 25 to 34—the prime years for signing a new lease on an apartment—has pulled ahead of all other age groups. 

Construction of new multifamily housing increased to a 381,000 unit seasonally adjusted annual rate in January, as robust demand for rental housing and record prices of apartment buildings provide strong incentives to build new supply. Multifamily housing starts are running nearly four times the average pace during 2009 and 2010, prompting some fears of overbuilding. A peek a bit further back in time, however, casts the recent trends in a bit different perspective. 

The apartment sector remains robust. Vacancy rates continued at 4.2%, a decade-low level that indicates little (if any) excess supply. An acceleration in the national job market has spurred household formation and continues to fuel strong rental demand. Rent growth eased to a 2.5% annual rate; this slowing may be due to seasonal demand weakness during the fall.