Last year was good for apartments in metro Phoenix: rising rents, falling vacancies, employment strong. ConAm president and CIO Rob Singh expects the same dynamic this year.

"The Phoenix multifamily market and its surrounding submarkets will remain strong throughout 2016," Rob tells us. An increase in local employment will continue to drive demand for multifamily properties over the course of this year at least, he adds, and "we anticipate that investment activity should continue to be robust" as a result.

San Diego-based ComAm is betting on the market this year, with its recent acquisition of the 324-unit The Greens in Chandler, which is close to 99% occupied. The acquisition expands the company's portfolio in a market where it has a long-term presence, Rob says; ComAm owns 4,300 units in the Phoenix market.

Thomas Brophy, research guru at ABI Multifamily, notes that 2015 was a "truly remarkable year for the Phoenix metro multifamily market," with a sales volume of $3.8M. (His custom-made bobble head sometimes speaks for him.) But only 4,661 units across 19 projects were delivered, below the 20-year average of 5,230 units a year. That means 2016 will also be marked by aggressive local apartment development, with over 14,000 units under construction.