4 Trends in Multifamily Housing

Across the US, builders, developers, and investors are rushing like maniacs to keep up with the huge demand for rental apartments and multifamily housing. Plenty of money is finding its way into the multifamily housing sector. Not only areinvestors and developers looking to boost home’s value, they also recognize the opportunity to earn a substantial ROI. Generally speaking, the multifamily housing market is booming because renters are looking for newer, better places to live as they bounce back from the housing market crash and they recover along with the improving economy. With that said, let’s take a look at four trends to track in the multifamily housing market.

1. Renters Seek Luxury and Affordability

Right now, renters in metro areas are looking to live as close to downtown as possible. Despite the desire for a certain lifestyle, affordability can be an issue. Unfortunately, a large portion of current renters still aren’t in the greatest shape financially, so their housing options are typically limited. Builders have taken it upon themselves to create micro apartments in an effort to fill this need. These apartments are roughly 250-350 ft.², they are quite luxurious with modern sinks and vessels, and typically lease for 75% of the monthly cost for a larger, similar style apartment in the city. As you can see, this option is still luxurious but much more affordable for lower income renters.

2. Green Leases Are a Hot New Trend

As the development of environmentally friendly apartments with energy efficient appliances, a cool roof, electric car charging stations, bike storage, and a focus on green initiatives takes shape, property managers are now asking tenants to sign a green lease. In Boston, in an effort for developers to get a green district designation, the city created the green lease. When a tenant signs this lease, he or she must agree to follow routines that lead to a sustainable lifestyle. This entails things like composting, recycling, and taking advantage of the available public transportation in the community. More and more metro areas are slowly catching on to this trend, and green leases are going to become a major phenomenon in the multifamily dwelling market sooner rather than later.

3. Tenants Now Have More Technological Control

We live in a massive period of innovation and technology is changing all the time as new advancements get released into the marketplace. In today’s modern multifamily dwelling, building owners are going to have to adapt with the changing times. As an example, many tenants are looking to take advantage of Internet TV. Yet many building owners are not ready to eliminate satellite and cable TV services. At this time, building teams have recognized the value of technological advances as far as improving a building’s sustainability is concerned. And they are beginning to embrace this new technology in an effort to provide a greener, more stable environment for their tenants and the world at large.

4. Living the Urban Lifestyle

As of now, multifamily dwelling owners hope to attract empty-nesters and millennials as their target renters. By focusing on these particular demographics, luxury property owners are making strides to develop building communities that provide the urban lifestyle. They are offering access to all of the latest technology, all of the hottest amenities like an outdoor fire pit, an indoor swimming pool, game/media room, laundry room, bike room etc. And everything a tenant could ever need is within 20 minutes of the apartment, whether they are walking or taking public transit. Again, this urban lifestyle trend is all about focusing on sustainable living.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the current crop of renters is focused on living a sustainable lifestyle.  As a building owner, you must utilize the four suggestions mentioned today to stay relevant in this ever-changing market.

About the author:

Wendy Dessler is a super-connector with OutreachMama and Towering SEO who helps people find their audiences online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing bigger customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition. 

Give Renters What They Want - More Storage!

The latest trends in apartment living are proving that it’s all about generation and location.  As a result, many multi-family developers are focusing on urban projects to attract millennials, the largest population of renters, who want to spend less time commuting and more time pursuing activities and creating a balanced lifestyle.

Jeff Kayce, in a recent webinar for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), discussed emerging trends in interior and exterior spaces and how generational differences impact apartment design.  He said, “It’s all about the lifestyle for today’s renters. They want the urban experience of less commute time and immediate access to various activities.” They are willing to sacrifice space for location and quality of life.

With the cost per square foot higher than in outlying neighborhoods, urban living means smaller living spaces.  To offset the higher cost of urban development, multi-family property owners are consistently looking for ways to maximize rental income. With 44% of non-homeowner millennials not looking to purchase a home, but instead choosing smaller living spaces in favor of more appealing locations, storage space isn’t just a want but has become a necessity, and they are willing to pay a premium for it.

This year, Multifamily Executive’s Concept Community conducted a nationwide survey of over 84,000 renters. The findings highlighted that in-unit storage and oversized closet space are highly desired amenities that can increase rent by upwards of $75 per month. Almost half of renters surveyed (49%) said they would pay $75 extra per month for a larger closet (10’ by 6’) versus the standard sized closet (4’ by 6’.)

J Turner Research surveyed Millennials, Gen X’ers, Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation. The two younger generations made up 80% of those surveyed. With other hot topics, in general, the older the renter the more cost conscious they tend to be. That is not so in this case. There isn’t a significant demographic difference in willingness to pay for additional closet and storage space. Across the board, when renters were asked if they would consider paying an additional $25 per month, or $100 total for more in-unit storage, surprisingly there wasn’t a significant change in willingness to pay extra. 45% of renters were still willing to pay more rent for more storage.  

Given the results of the survey, when it comes time to remodel or renovate current units or break ground on a new project, it is clear that building over-sized closets is a design feature that will pay off in the end, given that six feet of additional closet space can yield up to $100 more rent per unit per month. To generate increased revenue and appeal to all renters, call Stonebridge Builders to create the design and complete the renovations to your multi-family communities.