The earlier article mentioned the basic advantages that are common to all income properties: leverage, inflation protection, equity build up, cash flow, tax shelter, etc.
Laws of supply and demand severely limit risk and almost guarantee increased riches for rental owners. Supply and demand matter to renters and are far more impactful for investors. First we’ll consider the renter perspective, then the investor side.
Rental Demand
First consider rental demand. San Diego is a popular city to rent in. We have a higher percentage of “Gen Y”, than in all of California or the nation. Millennials love North Park, a city in the top 15 “hipster” zip codes nationally. 92104 is walkable, upgrading and extremely desirable. El Cajon, Chula Vista, Oceanside, and Escondido offer alternatives for different tenants. We have climate, culture, education, and a life pace that appeals to a broad range of renters. Rentals are cheaper than buying. San Diego is listed as number nine in “America’s 20 Best Cities” – MSN Real Estate.
Go deeper into rental demand. More than 10% of the families in L.A. and Orange County have told pollsters that they would prefer to live in San Diego. A million tourists visit us annually. Thousands plan to move here. More than 100,000 in Tijuana desperately want to live in San Diego County. Thus there is an immense demand for rentals.
What about supply of apartments? In the last 30 years, San Diego has built only half of many rentals as were needed for our population growth.
Multi-family occupancy has averaged above 95% for more than a decade. Real estate markets are considered balanced when vacancy is 5%. When demand exceeds supply, prices increase. San Diego rents have outpaced inflation over the last
decade and the last generation.
Investor Demand
Next, think about investors’ demand for apartments. San Diego has lower vacancy rates and steadier appreciation than most other major U.S. cities. Annually, thousands of rental owners sell local rental houses, condos, duplexes and fourplexes. Trading up, doing a tax deferred exchange, is better than giving a third of the profit to government early. Interest rates are cheaper than in the last 30 years.
What about other income property? Apartments have lower risks than offices. The market, not the government, controls office development. New construction has meant that local office vacancy has ranged from 10 -20% in the last generation, usually at least twiceas high as local multi-family rates. So there is immense investor demand for multifamily.
Supply
Think about the supply of new apartments for sale.
Every California city has incentives for promoting retail and discouraging apartments. Down zoning, stricter parking requirements and increased development fees have stopped more than 50,000 county apartments. Government fees above $50k per unit halt all but luxury units, costing more than $300k. Less than 10% of our renters can afford the $2,500 per month rent for new apartments. In the last generation, we have built half as many apartments as we needed for our kids, nieces and nephews.
Finally, remember the existing apartments. Owners know they have a superior investment and low risk. For years there have been at least five times as many “wannabe” buyers for every seller. Thus, limited supply and big demand helps current owners. The first article showed you seven reasons why rental ownership creates wealth. A following article will explain why San Diego is a lower risk market than almost all other major metropolitan areas.
If you have questions or want the laws of supply and demand to boost your wealth building, contact Terry at [email protected], (619) 889-1031, or visit www.SanDiegoApartmentBroker.com.