Multifamily rents drop in September 2024

The average multifamily rent fell by $3 in September to $1,750, while year-over-year growth was unchanged at 0.9 percent.

As affordable housing continues to grow, more projects are looking to diversify their footprint by adding mixed-use components, community areas, and more.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey recently signed far-reaching legislation to boost housing production and address the high cost of housing in the Bay State. The Affordable Homes Act aims to build or save 65,000 homes through $5.1 billion in spending and 49 policy initiatives.

IAPMO has published a new white paper titled “Adaptive Reuse: Converting Offices to Multi-Residential Family,” a comprehensive analysis of addressing housing shortages through the conversion of office spaces into residential units.

Phius recently released, REVIVE 2024, a retrofit standard for more resilient buildings. The standard focuses on resilience against grid outages by ensuring structures remain habitable for at least a week during extreme weather events.

More than 1.2 billion sf of U.S. office space—14.8% of the nation’s total—have strong potential for conversion to residential use, according to real estate software and services firm Yardi. Yardi’s new Conversion Feasibility Index scores office buildings on their suitability for multifamily conversion.

A law passed earlier this year by the Washington State Legislature allows developers to defer sales and use taxes if they convert existing structures, including office buildings, into affordable housing.

In a recent survey, builders and planners cited difficulty in generating community support as a key challenge to getting more affordable housing projects built. The survey by coUrbanize found that 94% of respondents tried to gain community input and support through public meetings, but many were frustrated by low attendance. Few respondents thought the process was productive.