Arlington’s Homeless Population Down 64 Percent Over Past Three Years

(RECAP: Arlington’s homeless population is down 27 percent over the past year and 64 percent since 2013. That’s according to figures released today by Arlington County, which conducted a count of homeless individuals on the streets and in shelters in January. The county credited two of its initiatives — 100 Homes and Zero: 2016 — with playing “key roles” in reducing homelessness by helping the homeless to secure stable housing. (The opening of Arlington’s new Homeless Services Center last year likely also helped.) Arlington is launching two new initiatives intended to curb homelessness. One is the establishment of a Youth Task Force “to examine the nature and scope of youth homelessness.” The other is a “Risk Reduction Fund” that will allow landlords to loosen their rental eligibility requirements and thus take in formerly homeless tenants. The fund will reimburse landlords for “vacancy and hurt costs” associated with such tenants.)

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Champion Real Estate Acquires Village Green Hills Apartments in Nashville for $22.5 Million

NASHVILLE, TN – Champion Real Estate Company announced the buy of Village Green Hills Apartments in Nashville, Tennessee. This most recent acquisition consists of a predominantly, newly-constructed, 82-unit apartment property at a cost of $22.5 million, in one of the most affluent and highly sought after residential markets in Davidson County.

Village Green Hills sits just off Hillsboro Pike, within the Green Hills submarket. The location is a walker’s paradise only a few steps from the Green Hills Mall and Hill Center with Nashville’s only Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s along with a myriad of lifestyle retailers.

Champion was founded in 1987 and is based in West Los Angeles. Since 1995, Champion has completed projects valued in excess of $1 billion and 2.5 million square feet, and invests on its own account and in partnership with select individual and institutional investors. The Village Green Hills buy is an integral part of Champion’s strategic investment plot that is designed to produce enhanced returns across the risk spectrum from high yield core to land entitlement and Development. 

“The quality of construction, consisting of large floor plans and high-end finishes, combined with the core location and high barriers to entry, provide for the ability to achieve top market rents,” stated Parker Champion, Senior Vice President.

Champion will further unlock value by installing professional “Class A” local management. With dependable tenant demand and a proven operational approach, Champion anticipates that Village Green Hills will be regarded within the community as a trophy property.

In Nashville alone, Champion and its affiliates currently own six multi-family properties consisting of nearly 200 rental units with product ranging from entry-level studios and student housing to high-end townhomes. Champion is actively seeking additional value-add properties throughout Nashville to continue to grow its portfolio.

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Apartment Annual Effective Rent Growth Above 4.0% for 7th Straight Quarter According to Axiometrics

DALLAS, TX – Despite moderation from the peaks of 2015, the national apartment market continued to show strength in the first quarter of 2016, according to early end-of-quarter apartment data from Axiometrics, the leader in apartment market and student housing research and analysis.

Axiometrics’ research showed:

Annual effective rent growth of 4.1% in the first quarter of 2016 represented an 89-basis-point (bps) decrease from the robust 5.0% of one year earlier. The 1Q rate was also 52 bps lower than the 4.6% reported in the fourth quarter of 2015. Still, the latest figure was the second-highest first-quarter rate since the end of the Fantastic Recession.

Rent growth has been 4.0% or above for seven straight quarters. In only one other period in Axiometrics’ 21-year history (the fourth quarter of 2010 through the second quarter of 2012) has annual effective rent growth been at 4.0% or above for such a long period.

Quarter-over-quarter effective rent growth was 0.2% in the first quarter. That rate was a 65-bps decrease from the 0.9% reported in 1Q15.

Average national rent was $1,248 for the first quarter of 2016, a $49 increase from the $1,199 average in the first quarter of 2015.

“Even though rent growth is moderating, as Axiometrics forecast, 4.0% growth is still well above the long-term average,” said Jay Denton, Axiometrics’ Senior Vice President of Analytics. “The significant declines in primary metros such as the Bay Area, New York, Denver and Houston are being somewhat offset by robust gains in secondary markets like Sacramento, Orlando and Salt Lake City.”

In other metrics:

Occupancy was 94.8% in the first quarter, tied for the highest 1Q rate since the 95.7% at the start of 2001. The 1Q16 rate was essentially the same as that of last year’s first quarter, but 16 bps lower than the 94.8% of 4Q15.

Annual effective rent growth was positive in 49 of Axiometrics’ top 50 markets, based on number of units. Only Oklahoma City was negative, at -1.1%. Two metros, Sacramento and Portland, OR (12.0%) reported double-digit rent growth in the first quarter.

Sacramento Edges Portland as Top Rent-Growth Metro

Sacramento, by only 2 bps, edged out Portland as the metro with the highest annual effective rent growth among Axiometrics’ top 50 markets. Sacramento posted a rate of 10.68%, while Portland’s 10.66% wasn’t quite enough to continue its two-quarter reign at the top.

Oakland dropped to No. 3, while Seattle, Salt Lake City and Riverside emerged to round out the top six. California placed seven metros in the first-quarter top 25, while Florida placed five.

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