By Matt Valley
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A rebounding apartment industry combined with a near record level of transaction activity in the sector has resulted in notable changes in the rankings of the top owners and managers nationwide compiled by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC).
Hunt Cos. Inc./LEDIC Managed Group Affiliates jumped to the top spot in the 2014 NMHC 50 owners list with 253,295 units owned. Meanwhile, Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC topped the NMHC 50 management list for the fourth consecutive year with 214,696 units managed.
The full rankings and detailed analysis are available at www.nmhc.org/NMHC50.
“While rental demand continues to rise, new apartment supply still came up short. Multifamily completions came in at 185,800 in 2012, still well below the pre-bust average of 300,000 per year,” says Mark Obrinsky, senior vice president of research and chief economist for NMHC.
Annual absorption of investment-grade apartments rose by almost one-third in 2013, but ultimately remained constrained by new supply, according to Obrinsky. “Providing further indication of continued strong demand, occupancy rates were unchanged at just over 95 percent.”
Large portfolio deals and acquisitions dominated transaction activity in 2013. “This level of trading resulted in more than the usual degree of shakeup in the apartment industry last year,” points out Obrinsky.
Here are some of the more compelling NMHC 50 highlights by the numbers:
• $104.7 billion — the volume of transaction activity for 2013, which was only 1.4 percent less than the all-time high in 2007 and $17 billion more than in 2012.
• 110,198 — the number of units that Hunt Cos. added in 2013, mostly from the acquisition of Centerline Capital Group, last year’s No. 3 NMHC 50 owner.
• 16 — the number of spots the biggest mover, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, jumped up on the owners list. The company now stands at No. 16. Meanwhile, U.S. Residential Group made the largest move on the NMHC Managers list, up 15 spots to No. 32.
• 15 — the number of companies appearing on the 2014 NMHC 50 lists that did not appear last year.
• 8 — the number of companies making their NMHC 50 debut. New to the owners list are Greystar Real Estate Partners, Landmark Apartment Trust and American Campus Communities. New on the management list are Bridge Investment Group Partners, Alliance Residential Company, CFLane, CompassRock Real Estate LLC and Cottonwood Residential.
• 3 — the number of firms with substantial holdings of military housing. Those three firms are Hunt Cos., Lincoln Property Co. and Balfour Beatty Communities.
NMHC partners with Kingsley Associates, a real estate research and consulting firm, for the NMHC 50’s research and analysis. Additional information can be found online at http://www.nmhc.org/NMHC50.