With homeownership rates sagging over the past 11 years thanks to shifts in demographic trends, apartments have become one of the most in-demand property types, reports Trepp in its April 2018 Multifamily Snapshot report. Apartment demand rose to its highest level in 25 years in 2017, which is a generational peak.
However, some of the sector’s underlying financials are beginning to decelerate — at least when it comes to loans in CMBS. According to Trepp data, the average occupancy for multifamily CMBS loans has been trending downward over the past two years. Average occupancy was measured at a recent low of 93.1 percent in March, which is 60 basis points lower year-over-year. In addition, the multifamily loan delinquency dipped slightly from its January and February rates to 2.4 percent in March. However, the sector’s delinquency rate has remained consistently below 2.5 percent for
