The Commercial Real Estate Alpha Site

For complete research and other similar articles from Mr. Parsons, CLICK HERE <—–

Some of the big apartment REITs just released fresh data on their renters — including incomes and demographics. Big takeaway: Headline narratives about renters don’t reflect who lives in institutional-grade apartments.

Here are the typical renter incomes among REITs reporting it:

Camden: $120k
Equity: $169k
Essex: $131k
IRT: $86k
MAA: $91k

Rent-to-income ratios range from 19% to 22%.

More highlights:

— Camden reported that half of its residents live alone, and half are under the age of 35.

— Equity Residential: Nearly half of their apartments are solo occupied. Median age is 33.

— MAA’s median renter age is 35. Renter incomes range from $75k in Nashville to $105k in Orlando and Tampa. Incomes top $90k in Atlanta and Dallas.

— Essex: Big incomes in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County) at $168k.

— IRT: Top market for renter incomes is Dallas at $93k. Rent-to-income ratios are under 21% in all their markets except Denver and Tampa (24%). Lowest rent-to-income ratios are in Oklahoma City and Memphis (18%). Average age is 36.

Interesting stats: More than half (52%) of IRT’s residents are women, 80% of residents are single, and 22% of new residents move in from out of state.

— UDR’s median renter age is 32. Rent-to-income ratios trending down.

Interesting stat from UDR: You might expect to see a higher share of 30-something renters given the barriers to buying houses today, and first-time homebuyers traditionally being in that age cohort. But that’s not what is happening. The biggest growth is among those 45+ (offset by a drop in <25), which I’d assume reflects more Boomers re-entering the apartment market.



Bottom line: Renters in professionally managed, institutional-grade apartments and SFR (Class A/B) are not who you might think.

#apartments #housing