Multifamily Market Goes Dry in 2009, Up in 2010

[IMGCAP(1)]DALLAS-The writing’s on the wall for the multifamily market in 2009, but there is hope for a turn in 2010. Texas’ major metros are leading the nation in several benchmarks, at least for now.

Whether it’s north, south or central Texas, all four top-ranked metros are still adding jobs. And with that, they are still adding apartment units, a Texas way of life that’s setting the stage for overbuilding down the road. An estimated 300 brokers, developers and lenders heard the good news and the bad yesterday at the annual industry conference of Carrollton, TX-based M/PF YieldStar Inc.

“No one came in here too optimistic about 2009,” Greg Willett, M/PF’s vice president, pointed out to the crowd at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Downtown Dallas. In Texas and the rest of the Southwest markets, rents and occupancies are going to drop in 2009, just maybe not as drastically as elsewhere in the US. And if there’s any consolation, the conference’s experts had one bit of advice: be glad you’re not in Phoenix.