Locales across the United States are using relocation packages to siphon talent from larger cities. The deals include everything from free rent to cash allowances and home appliances. The trend can mean notable government contracts for co-working spaces, multifamily and single-family housing providers. Each program is different, but many share common threads. Their marketing messages often aim to attract newcomers from cities where significant portions of income are directed towards housing. Several locales appeal to professionals in technology and science-based fields. One program has gained significant attention in recent weeks. Your New Home: Tulsa, Oklahoma The George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) is currently accepting applications for its remote employee relocation program, Tulsa Remote. The Foundation is offering $10,000 cash, a rent-free furnished apartment, and a desk at 36 Degrees North, a local coworking space. In exchange, recipients must live in Tulsa full-time for at least one year. Recipients are also encouraged to participate in community events. Many of these social opportunities are created especially for program participants. Tulsa Remote recipients are invited to exclusive wine tastings, group outings, and neighborhood panel discussions. The hope, says GKFF’s executive director Ken Levitt, is that the transplants will establish a local community and decide to stay beyond the required year. In theory, the remote employees will not only bring cash into Tulsa. They will show local young professionals that they don’t have to leave their small-town home to be successful, suggests Sara Sutton, the CEO of FlexJobs, a remote job search engine. Tulsa Remote and similar programs remove the stigma from telecommuting, which some believe is not a “legitimate thing.” But telecommuting is quite a legitimate thing. A 2017 Gallup poll revealed that 43 percent of employed Americans have worked remotely in some capacity. The figure is...

A new report by Yardi Matrix indicates that multifamily deliveries might outpace demand in some key U.S. housing markets. Matrix conducted a study to determine which areas might be at risk of oversupply or undersupply over the next five years. The research revealed that deliveries in 2016 and 2017 helped compensate for the construction shortage in the wake of the Great Recession. “Most of the metros that are at short-term risk of oversupply have strong economies and healthy multifamily demand, so units coming online should be absorbed by growing populations,” the report concludes. Markets and submarkets with outsize development activity, however, “can expect volatility” that will give rise to higher vacancy rates and stagnant rent growth. Achieving market equilibrium going forward will require developers to “intelligently calibrate the amount and location of new projects” to accommodate finite demand. Yardi Matrix identified Denver, Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix, Miami and Charlotte, N.C., as key markets at risk of oversupply over the next five years. Demand is projected to exceed supply of apartments for rent in San Diego, Los Angeles, California’s Inland Empire, Houston, New York and Sacramento, Calif. Read “U.S. Multifamily Supply and Demand Forecasts by Metro” to learn more about homeownership, population shifts, social trends and other factors affecting the multifamily...

Americans are not moving and no one can pinpoint why. Without a clear cause, the trend is difficult to reverse, as are its effects on the economy and workplace productivity. United States Census Bureau data reveals that only 21.7 percent of renters relocated in 2017. That’s a new historic low. Homeowners moved at a rate of 5.5 percent, a smidgen higher than last year but not enough for analysts to breathe a sigh of relief. Reports from the last three decades depict a decline in relocation for renters and owners. As to be expected, sharp drops occur during economic recessions, yet moving rates have not recuperated since The Great Recession. An article in the New York Times dives into a few reasons why Americans are staying put, caused by—or a result of—an unfavorable employment environment. Every age group, every educational level, and every industry has experienced severe declines in job turnover and employee mobility reports the Federal Reserve Board. In 2017, The US Census Bureau documented that only 9 percent of families relocated due to a new job or job transfer. That’s a sharp decline from 19.4 percent cited in 2013. While analyst Betsey Stevenson of the University of Michigan proposed that people aren’t moving or changing jobs because “they’ve all found jobs that are great for them and they’re happy,” it’s more likely, she admits, that “people stay in jobs that aren’t as good for them because they’re terrified of changing, and that’s bad for the overall economy.” Workers are staying with the same employers and climbing the ladder more slowly than before. Worker fluidity decreased from 10 percent to 15 percent between 1980 and 2013. Those figures are conservative. Some studies place the modern percentage closer to 25 percent. States such as...

Two updates issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development bring bad news to homeowners. Denied Mortgage Insurance Rate Cut Costs Homeowners $500/year The new administration indefinitely suspended a proposed rate cut for FHA-backed mortgage insurance. Instead of dropping rates to .60 percent, they will remain at .85 percent. The decision—made within the hour that the new administration assumed office– will cost homeowners a savings averaging $500 a year. Savings would vary by state. In California, the savings would have averaged $860 per year. LA Times reports that the administration denied the proposed cut, citing risk prevention as the cause. Borrowers can have down payments of as little as 3.5 percent and credit scores as low as 580. The average credit score for borrowers, however, was a fair 679 in late 2016. Non-bank lenders often manage higher risk FHA-backed loans. These lenders may not have the same reserve requirements as banks. The California Association of Realtors president Geoff McIntosh issued the following statement on the decision: “FHA’s single-family home portfolio is financially sound as it has ever been, and we hope that once the new administration has thoroughly reviewed the merits of the premium reduction the suspension will immediately be lifted.” Secretary of Housing and Urban Development  Ben Carson says he intends to reexamine the decision. He plans to collaborate with FHA administrator and other financial experts to “really examine that policy.” American Indian Households Face Increasing Challenges Affordable Housing Finance shared the latest developments in an independent American Indian Housing Report initiated by HUD.  While tribes have responsibly used existing resources for improvements, dire housing conditions and a lack of resources continue to hinder progress. Researchers with the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. examined the housing needs of American Indians, Alaska...

With home prices rising faster than the cost of senior housing, many older adults could be ready to make the change from homeowner to senior living resident. For Americans facing retirement age, it can be difficult to determine when to trade in the private home for a senior living residence. While some seniors fear losing a certain amount of independence or surrendering to age and infirmity, others may be primarily concerned with finances. Data provided by A Place for Mom reveals many budget-minded retirees could be better off selling the family home and moving into a senior housing. A Place for Mom collected the data as part of its Senior Living Cost Index. By comparing expenditures on actual rent and care at over 2000 U.S. locations, the index delivers a database for consumers looking to quantify the pros and cons of retirement living. For Charlie Severn, vice president of brand marketing at A Place for Mom, the index stands out from other databases because it includes the actual rent and senior care payments, instead of the typical cost-of-care estimate, making it a “first of its kind.” According to the Index, which includes data from over 100,000 move-ins from 2012-2015, there has been 2.7% rise in all types of senior care in the last year. This increase is 1.5 times faster than core inflation, but still slower than the 7% rise in home prices. As a result, Severn explains, selling the family home may mitigate much of the outlay of moving into senior housing. “This makes the sale of a home from a timing standpoint pretty good,” he tells Senior Housing News. In the end, A Place for Mom hopes the National Senior Living Index can provide helpful information on senior housing options. The Index lists...

Finder.com recently gathered data on 78 cities throughout the US. The figures were used to determine the salaries needed to buy a home and live comfortably within these cities. The average wage in the US–$52,250 according to the US Census Bureau—sustains homeownership in only 46 percent of the listed cities. Realistically, the numbers are even more conservative than the data would suggest. Of the cities examined, the top ten cities on the list that required the highest salaries would not surprise anyone. California cities occupy nearly half of the top ten. San Francisco led the pack, suggesting a salary of at least $180,600 for the average home priced at a cool $1,119,500. San Jose and Los Angeles came in second and third, respectively. A resident earning $129, 864 could afford the average home in San Jose while $90,244 is needed in Los Angeles. My beloved Atlanta comes in at 45 on the list. The average home, priced at $180,000, requires a salary of about $51,551. Jackson, MS, wraps up the list. Residents earning $43,265 can ideally afford to buy a home and live comfortably. In defining what it means to live comfortably and buy a home, the site made several assumptions that simply don’t resonate with many Americans. We will take the Atlanta market, for example. For buyers seeking a home in the $180,000s, the assumption that the homebuyer has the ability to pay off annual non-mortgage related household debt and has saved up $36,000 as a down payment is unrealistic. Manuel Cabrera, Branch Manager with CalAtlantic mortgage, shakes his head upon hearing the assumptions. “Primarily, the median home price within the Atlanta metropolitan may be $180,000 but that doesn’t mean it’s a realistic price for buying a home. There are still foreclosures and...

Homeownership across the U.S. continued to decline 40 basis points in the second quarter of 2013, creating a favorable context for multifamily to thrive. Rental demand remains strong with occupancy gains and rent growth occurring in every major metro around the country. Annual rent growth across the U.S. is currently averaging 3.4 percent, according to research data from Jones Lang LaSalle. Driven by an improving job market as well as significant population growth recorded within two key renter demographics (eco-boomers and empty nesters), both multifamily occupancy and rents have climbed well above their 10-year averages, JLL research shows. Richmond, Portland, Nashville, Dallas-Ft. Worth and the Inland Empire have seen the largest increase in rentership over the last 12 months with more than 4.0 percent of households migrating away from home-ownership. All signs seem to point out to a rebounding rental market, yet the road to successful renting is not always smooth. Ensuring an uninterrupted cash flow falls almost entirely on property managers and their ability to retain quality tenants. A recent report from J Turner Research, a leading marketing research firm exclusively serving the multifamily industry, reveals that three out of top five complaints are directly related to customer service as delivered by the on-site management teams and maintenance technicians. The top 10 multifamily apartment resident complaints resulted from J Turner’s survey are: Rental rates Poor grounds / common area upkeep Disorganized staff / lack of communication with staff Quality of response to maintenance requests Overall customer service of management staff Quality of parking / parking availability Concerns over security / safety / lighting Lack of upgraded amenities Pets not on leash / poor pet waste removal General lack of preventative maintenance   The report was based on the analysis of 10,000 customer satisfaction...