This is a narration of our weekly Rent and Operating Trends Report.

The first week of 2024 was a mixed bag from an economic perspective. Major equity indices sold off to start the year, led by the tech sector. There has been some concern that the stock market became overvalued after a surprising and very strong 2023. However, late last week the December jobs numbers supported the continued strength of the economy. In December roughly 216,000 new jobs were created bringing the 2023 total to 2.65 million new jobs. Government and Health Care led the way last month adding 90,000 of the 216,000 new positions. The unemployment rate has held steady at 3.7%.

Multifamily fundamentals had a quiet week last week, as the leading indicators edged downward but rent and occupancy were mostly unchanged. Occupancy remains the focal point for the industry as we weather the winter slowdown. Based on last year’s atypical trend, where occupancy was flat through the first half of the year before falling in the summer and fall, I will be interested to see how it performs this year.

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