The Economics of the Apartment Market in the 1990s

This paper examines fundamental and investment demand for rental apartments in the 1990s. Demographic and economic trends fuel the demand for rental housing. While rental demand in the U.S. as a whole will be somewhat weak in the 1990s, demand will be strong for areas with high in-migration, due to the younger age characteristics of movers, and the high costs of homeownership in many regions. Apartments represent one of the few real estate product classes in which demand will outpace supply in the 1990s. This impending supply-demand imbalance will result in substantial increases in real rents and investment values in select apartment markets across the country. This report proceeds to describe some of the major financial, economic and demographic conditions that will create attractive investment opportunities for institutional-grade apartment investments in the 1990s.