While the pandemic has slammed many commercial real estate sectors, multifamily has continued to perform, despite questions about eviction moratoriums and rent collections.
As of December 20, The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)’s Rent Payment Tracker, which surveyed 11.5 million units of professionally managed apartment units across the country, found that 89.8% of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment.a decrease from the 90.3% paid by November 20, 2020. While the number of households that paid fell, it was still only 3.4% below the December 20, 2019 rate—before the COVID-19 pandemic locked down the economy.
The economic environment should continue to improve for apartments this year as the COVID-19 vaccine is distributed throughout the country. In a recent report, CBRE predicted a return to pre-COVID vacancy levels and a 6% increase in net effective rents in 2021. By early 2022, the report predicts the market should be in full recovery.
Even though rental housing has generally withstood the pandemic, expect better days ahead.
