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Q1 2019: Apartment Vacancy Flat, Absorption Rates Lower
With Q1 2019 at an end, Reis released its preliminary quarter report, showing what’s going on with the national apartment market. The information can be summed up as follows: Flat vacancy, lower absorption, average rent increase.
Specifically:
- The vacancy rate of 4.8% was unchanged, quarter over quarter, and slightly higher, year over year.
- Effective rent growth was 0.5% from the previous quarter, with the annual effective rent growth at 4.2%.
- The Q1 net absorption, at 37,159 units, was lower than the 49,558 units from Q4 2018. The figure was also less than the 47,414 units reported in Q1 2018.
Barbara Byrne Denham, Reis’ senior economist, indicated that first quarters tend to see lower activity — however, Q1 2019 was “weaker than most first quarters,” especially given that construction had substantially decreased. “While we expect some revisions to these numbers,” she noted, “we were surprised by the low levels.”
For the remainder of 2019, Reis is forecasting continued robust construction, with occupancy remaining consistent with supply and job growth. However, “pent-up demand for buying a home could impact some markets more than others,” Denham noted.
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