GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Apartment Market in Doldrums

ORLANDO-Mirroring most major markets, Orlando’s 132,000-unit multi-housing inventory was on a downward curve for most of 2001, according to a new study by the Orlando office of CB Richard Ellis Inc.

Rents, new construction, absorption, building permit totals and investor demand were all soft and are expected to remain that way, at least for the first half of 2002. Rent concessions, however, are growing. On the investment side, demand was steady but product was limited.

“Many potential sellers have decided to hold off on selling their properties, based on the current economic conditions,” Robert W. Miller, senior vice president, multi-housing properties group, CB Richard Ellis, tells GlobeSt.com. “With increased demand and a reduced supply of properties on the market, we expect to see strong competition from buyers for those properties that do become available in 2002.”