MULTIFAMILY STEADY
| While just one office building sold in the Chicago CBD in '09, the multifamily market sold a whopping 15 buildings over $7 million in the metropolitan area. CBRE's first VP of multi-housing (by definition, the man of the house) John Jaeger tells us Fannie and Freddie kept the industry moving. | |
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John's three-person team at CBRE buys and sells institutional-grade multifamily buildings nationwide. The team has closed more than $1 billion in transactions since 2007, including a 252-unit building in Highwood and a 250-unit building in St. Louis in '09. John says the main driver of the housing market is employment, since renters can afford a larger place or to live without a roommate if they have a job that pays well. The $40 billion lent out by Fannie and Freddie last year was what provided liquidity in the market for buyers and sellers, which should continue to be the case in 2010. | |
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Can you all say, thanks echo boom? John tells us 70 million children of baby-boomers are at a prime age for renting, especially now that the condo market is distressed. He anticipates the multifamily market will pick up in a big way 2011-2015, when employment is back to normal levels and all the existing product is absorbed. Right now, he says, is a great time to buy a building to prepare for that potential boom, but not many owners are selling. | |
