Many of the cranes crowding skylines from Phoenix to Denver and Dallas will soon come down. They are likely to stay down for a long time.The number of new apartments starting development has fallen dramatically this year, a consequence of higher interest rates, declining rents and what in some places looks like overbuilding.
Apartment building starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 334,000 units in August, marking a 41% decline from the pace seen the same month a year prior, according to the Census Bureau. An annual decline of this magnitude has happened only one other time since the subprime housing crisis, real-estate data firm Bright MLS said.
“We expect to see about two years of greatly reduced building,” said Greg Willett, first vice president at Institutional Property Advisors, a real estate advisory company.
Source: The Apartment Market Is Hitting a Construction Lull – WSJ
