Sam Tenenbaum, Cushman & Wakefield’s Head of Multifamily Insights, shares some new data and commentary looking at fundamentals of the St. Louis market, and what this means for multifamily investment in this region.
The economy remains resilient in St. Louis: As of April’s Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the St. Louis economy has grown slightly faster than the U.S. average over the last year, with total non-farm employment gains of 1.9% compared to 1.8% nationally.
Construction wave is over: Most new multifamily deliveries have already come to market for the current cycle, meaning any absorption seen should translate into falling vacancies. The only time St. Louis has had net move-outs are in recessionary years, so assuming the U.S. labor market remains resilient, fundamentals should start to recover this year.
Despite higher vacancies, rents are still growing: Vacancies are up as a result of those new deliveries – while the overall market remains competitive and tilted in favor of renters, rent growth has still registered an increase of 1.5% over the last year, in line with the U.S. average.
To dive deeper into the St. Louis multifamily market data, including an Economic Overview, and insight on both Demand and Development for this region, read Cushman & Wakefield’s latest Marketbeat.