Luxury apartments are benefitting from challenging homeownership trends that appear to be prompting many higher-income households to rent luxury apartments instead of transitioning to first-time home ownership.

According to Marcus & Millichap's September housing research brief, Class A rental vacancy was unchanged in August for the fourth straight month, and concessions on luxury units trended downward after reaching a high point in March. While the active multifamily construction pipeline is historically large, robust demand for Class A units is keeping supply pressure in check, said the report.

Meanwhile, despite substantial downward movement in the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, existing home sales decreased year over year by 3.3% in August, reaching an eight-month low. Mortgage rates were down 60 basis points to 6.5% in August and fell another 40 bps through mid-September.