Harold Willig
- Aug 29, 2020
Covid-19 Delays Apartment Construction in U.S.
According to a new report out of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), 57% of multifamily developers have reported delays in their projects recently. Of those who reported delays in June, 83% said the cause was “permitting due to COVID-19.” Certainly not great news, but those stats are “virtually unchanged” from April and May. Two other reasons for the delays were a shortage of building materials and the higher prices of those materials. But the mood among these de
Harold Willig
- Aug 28, 2020
Big Increase in New Home Sales in Chicago Suburbs
Good news for Chicagoland real estate! Spurred on by very low mortgage rates, new homes sales jumped in the second quarter in suburban Chicago. Interestingly, the increase was partly fueled by the desire, for some people, to move away from more densely populated areas because of Covid-19. “In this environment of very low interest rates, we saw people who might have moved out of their apartment building in a few years saying, ‘Let’s make this move now,’ ” said Erik Doersching,
Harold Willig
- Aug 22, 2020
Illinois Has $300 Million Plan to Help Renters
Some good news for renters in Illinois. The state government announced a $300 million fund to help people who have fallen behind on their rent or their mortgage because of COVID-19. The money is part of the $3.5 billion that Illinois received from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Kristin Faust, executive director of the Illinois Housing Development Authority, which is administering the program, says the money “will help make people whole
Harold Willig
- Aug 21, 2020
Freddie Mac Predicts Weak Multi-Family Market
A new forecast from Freddie Mac Multifamily predicts that the Covid-19 pandemic will result in higher vacancy rates and lower rent growth through the rest of 2020. Driving factors include the bad job market and lower overall household income. “Ultimately the economy is unlikely to begin its return to full strength until an effective treatment or vaccine is available,” the federal agency wrote in the report. The forecast also finds that demand dropped during the second quarter
Harold Willig
- Aug 15, 2020
Brookfield is Bullish on Single-Family Rentals
Good news on the single-family rental front. Wall Street’s Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. recently bought a controlling stake in single-family landlord Conrex, which operates more than 10,000 rental homes across the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. Brookfield has also raised $300 million (including some of its own money) for an entity called Brookfield Single Family Rental that will acquire and renovate homes. The firm intends to leverage the Conrex platform for that effort.
Harold Willig
- Aug 14, 2020
“Apartment Market Can Thrive” Expert Says
In a recent podcast from real estate investing maven John Burns, Greg West, CEO of ZOM Living talks about current short-term and long-term trends in the apartment market. It’s not all doom and gloom; it’s more like “adapt or die.” West believes that the apartment market will struggle over the next year, but development will continue. ZOM builds about 3000 apartments every year and just closed on two big development deals. Because of Covid-19, apartments will have to change, b
Harold Willig
- Aug 8, 2020
Investors Navigate COVID-19 Apartment Deal Landscape
Covid-19 has hammered the U.S. economy and its impact on multi-family apartment investing has been severe. In May 2020, investors paid a total $3.1 billion to buy apartment properties in the U.S. That’s about one-fifth of the amount they spent in the same period the year before. By June, things were on the upswing as it appeared the coronavirus was getting under control. “A slow recovery took place over the ensuing months, so that the latest, trailing, four-week, new listings
Harold Willig
- Aug 7, 2020
Vacant Target in Calumet City Gets New Life
Sometimes, it’s easy being green; especially for an abandoned Target store in Calumet City, IL. This old store will be repurposed in phases (beginning at the end of this year) as an indoor vertical farm producing locally grown greens for the Chicago area under the banner ‘Wilder Fields.” The 135,000-square-foot building will house vertical stacks of trays growing fresh produce like kale, arugula and other leafy greens. A retail shop on site will sell the produce to the commun
