Housing is Becoming a Luxury

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Student loan delinquencies spike in the South—what it signals for real estate investors link

• Southern states show the highest student loan delinquency rates in the U.S., with clear geographic concentration. This could indicate growing financial strain on renters in these areas.

• The map reveals large state-by-state gaps, suggesting regional economic stress that may affect rent collection, demand, and tenant stability—especially in working-class markets.

• The data is sourced from the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel via Equifax, giving investors a credible signal to reassess risk in southern and student-heavy rental markets.

Office strategy is shifting to increase occupancy link

• Nearly 1 in 3 companies have moved their real estate decision-making under HR, yet most still rely only on financial metrics, missing out on evaluating workplace impact on employee performance and retention.

• Two-thirds of occupiers reduced their footprint in the last two years, but now many are shifting to strategic expansion—13% of leases have grown in size, and 1 in 8 plan to expand.

• Occupancy rates remain stuck between 51–60%, but stricter return-to-office policies and demand for better amenities have stabilized usage, with nearly half of tenants willing to pay extra for improved services.

Housing starts crash to 5-year low—even single-family builds can’t keep pace link

• Multifamily housing starts plunged 30.4% in May, snapping a three-month streak of growth and marking the lowest total housing starts since May 2020. Single-family starts are down 7.3% year-over-year.

• Building permits dropped to 1.39 million (SAAR), 2.0% below April and 1.0% below last year—signaling a continued slowdown in future construction activity.

• Homebuilders are increasingly using incentives and price cuts to attract buyers, with new home price growth falling from 3.9% in March to 3.4% in April.

New home construction craters—permits and starts hit 5-year lows link

• Total housing starts dropped 9.8% month-over-month and 4.6% year-over-year in May, driven by a 30.4% plunge in high-density multi-family starts. Single-family starts are still down 7.3% compared to last year.

• Builders are slashing prices and adding incentives to move inventory—34% of builders cut prices in May, and 62% offered buyer perks in June. This suggests demand is softening even as inventory pressures ease.

• Permits for future construction are also sliding, with single-family permits down 6.4% year-over-year and low-density multi-family permits down 7.3%. That slowdown could tighten supply in 2026 if demand rebounds.

Housing is Becoming a Luxury—And Investors Need to Pay Attention link

• In 2004, the average apartment cost 37% of the median household income. By 2023, it soared to 71%, while buying a home now demands 152% of median income—making ownership financially out of reach for most.

• Multifamily rents are rising faster than home prices, with a 4% annual growth rate compared to 3.16% for home values. This signals continued strong performance for rentals, especially in build-to-rent and single-family rental sectors.

• Zoning barriers and higher mortgage rate baselines are locking in high housing costs. As a result, more Americans are becoming renters, which could shift investment toward mobile labor markets and cheaper secondary cities.

Ohio's Multifamily Market Booms as Demand Outpaces Supply link

• Ohio absorbed nearly 15,900 units over the past year, with occupancy averaging 95.5% statewide. Columbus led in net move-ins with 6,536 units, followed by Cincinnati and Cleveland.

• Cincinnati saw the biggest rent jump at 3.1%, reaching $1,353/month—outpacing Columbus (2.9%) and Cleveland (2.3%). Average rents across the state hit $1,310.80.

• Columbus is facing the largest construction wave with 12,563 units underway, but Colliers still projects 3.2% rent growth and stable 95% occupancy over the next 12 months.

Attentive

Attentive.ai is an AI-powered platform that automates property measurements, estimates, and proposal creation for landscaping, snow removal, and facility maintenance companies. It helps streamline operations and reduce manual site visits.

AI is coming for commercial real estate—and fast link

• 90% of commercial real estate firms plan to use AI tools within five years, but only one-third have a real strategy in place. Without clear planning, JLL warns they risk falling short of expectations.

• A single global financial firm saved $120 million by using AI to consolidate space and optimize leases. Real-time energy management and predictive maintenance are among the top AI use cases showing ROI now.

• JLL expects 70% of commercial real estate functions to be AI-augmented by 2030, backed by 700+ PropTech startups and major tech partnerships with Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

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Vidit

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