The 206-unit Montebello condominium in Cupertino Calif, where land cost the developer $335,000 per unit.

Land Shortage Shapes Strategy of Multifamily Builders

Grappling with shortages of developable land, soaring construction costs, rising interest rates and real estate speculators, five top developers who addressed NAHB’s Pillars of the Industry Conference in Miami last week voiced confidence in the outlook for their businesses and discussed some of the things they are doing to ensure that their companies continue to prosper even in the face of adversity. ...

Recreation room in a unit at Montebello, winner of a Pillars of the Industry award for Best For-Sale Multifamily Community. (See story inside.)

Condos Hot While Rental Market Warming Up

Today’s red hot condominium market may be all the talk among the nation’s multifamily home builders, but rental properties are poised for a gradual comeback, according to economists speaking at NAHB’s Pillars of the Industry Conference in Miami on April 3-6.

Market-rate rental apartments are beginning to fill up faster and command higher rents, the housing analysts said, as the high cost of for-sale housing and rising mortgage interest rates take some of the urgency out of the home buying stampede that has lured away many prospective renters over the past few years. Employment growth is also continuing, another plus on the demand side for rentals.

The strong condo market is also helping to close up supply imbalances on the rental side. With land and construction prices soaring in the frothiest markets, condominium building and conversions are far more financially feasible than rentals, the conference speakers said. They did, however, caution developers about watching the condo market closely, because it may be only a matter of time before it starts to cool. ...

Nation's Building News Will Not Be Published Next Week

The Nation's Building News staff will be attending the NAHB Spring Board of Directors meeting this week. We will resume publication on April 25.

Subscribe Your Employees to NBN for Chance to Be the Next Winner of a Digital Camera

Brian Feenie, of Lennox Industries in South Wales, Pa., and David Hartman, of Tier One Bank in Omaha, Neb., have won digital cameras for subscribing their employees to Nation's Building News.

Subscribe your employees to Nation’s Building News Online and you will be entered in a chance to win a Sony digital camera.

It’s free, easy and NAHB members who sign up three or more employees will be entered into the "Make Your Business Click" contest for a 7.2 megapixel digital camera.

Plus, your employees will begin receiving valuable industry and business news at their desktop.

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