Mountain West Real Estate Investment Market Report: February 2021
Five policies from the Biden administration that could affect the multifamily housing industry
Although the 2020 election felt more like an election week than an election day, ultimately Joe Biden emerged as the new President of the United States. As the smoke has cleared on the election itself, attention has turned to President Biden’s administration. As private equity lenders, we are naturally examining what the new administration will mean for the real estate development market. Specifically, what will the new administration’s policies mean to a housing market that has shown strength despite an economy that has been heavily impacted by the pandemic?
See full articleMarket Activity
The Denver metro housing market broke records again in January with a new single-family home inventory low – of only 2,316 properties on the market. This translates into an inventory shortage and the opportunity for values to increase. Single-family homes hit a record average price of $629,159, while attached properties also hit a record of $397,792. Experts predict that as long as interest rates remain low, sellers can expect to receive multiple offers on their homes.
Market Activity
Overall office vacancy increased to 15.7 percent during the final quarter of 2020. Class A vacancy increased from 9.3 percent to 15.1 percent year-over-year while Class B increased from 10.8 percent to 17.1 percent. Salt Lake City has established itself as one of the top 10 tech markets in the U.S. with 9.6 percent of total employment in the technology sector, compared to 5.0 percent nationwide. Adobe is one of the largest tech companies in the area with expansion into its second campus in Lehi, nearly doubling its local workforce.
Market Activity
Since construction was deemed an essential business in Dallas during the pandemic, it was mostly uninterrupted throughout the year. In the fourth quarter of 2020, 336,252 square feet of new space was delivered to the office market. The largest project was a 122,000-square-foot office building in the Lewisville/Carrollton submarket named the Lakeside Corporate Office Center. Currently, there are 4.2 million square feet in the pipeline expected to be completed within the next 24 months.
