IHS Global Insight economist Patrick Newport, talking to nationalmortgagenews, says, “The trend is still away from homeownership. You still have a lot of foreclosures in the pipeline and people who lose their homes will mostly end up renting.” Rental rates have risen from 2.2% in 2011 to 4.1% in 2012, and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicts that number will hit 4.4% in 2013. Meanwhile, vacancy rates on multifamily units have dropped to 4.2% in the third quarter from 5.6% one year ago. Builders added 37,700 multifamily units to the inventory last year, and NAR forecasts 79,850 units will be added this year, and that number will blossom to 148,600 in 2013. As MHProNews has learned, Fannie Mae’s Kim Betancourt says, “There is a potential for oversupply occurring over the next 24 months in a limited number of submarkets.”
