As is customary this time of year, we at Apartment Wire took
a look back at the news stories from the past 12 months and came up with our
best of 2015 list. Here’s what you, our members, counted as your top 10
newsletter must-reads of the year.
10. Packages,
packages and more packages. Camden’s decision to stop accepting resident
packages at management offices made NMHC’s package page a go-to destination for
related research and info.
9. Rent
control on the rise. Proposals to cap rents emerge in cities across the
national as the price of rental housing continues to grow amid greater demand
and flat wages.
8. Most
move to mobile. DemoMemo’s post on how the plurality of households now has
only cell phones underscored the need for mobile connectivity in apartment
communities.
7. NMHC
50 by the numbers. A perennial member favorite, this year’s release of the
top 50 apartment owners and managers offered some extra analysis and two bonus
lists of top developers and GCs.
6. Renting
is the new normal. Because nothing spells better news for our business than
Urban Institute analysis that shows renters household growth will outpace that
of homeowners for at least the next 15 years.
5. The
“other” rental housing. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies’
headline that single-family rentals have risen to nearly a third of all rental
housing grabbed members’ attention big time.
4. Immigration
and the housing recovery. President Obama’s executive action on immigration
pulled housing into the policy debate, as immigrants have accounted for a third
of all household growth for the past two decades.
3. The
budget and affordable housing. Harvard combed through all 150 pages to
figure out what President Obama’s ambitious fiscal year 2016 budget would mean for
affordable housing.
2. Small
cities, big buyers. As prices for multifamily properties in top tier
markets climb, some investors look to tertiary markets like Buffalo and
Birmingham for better deals.
1. Not
ready for rental growth. The Urban Institute released a major demographic
study that concluded rental housing demand will dramatically increase over the
next 15 years—and no one is prepared for it.
We look forward to more great stories in 2016! |