Spring 2009 Sunrise Multifamily Rental Market Report Finds Northeast Average Rental Rates Tracking National Economic Trends

The Spring 2009 Sunrise Multifamily Rental Market Report © released today by Sunrise Management & Consulting, reports that, like the national economic trends, the northeast multifamily markets show modest average rental rate growth in some areas and decreasing rates in other more populated markets. Markets where housing values increased the most and had correlating development of housing overstock are seeing the greatest impact from the current recession.

The older markets in the New York Region, which had not seen the highs in housing values, continue to grow. The more populated markets in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and the metropolitan region of Connecticut, which did see the highs in property values, have all had decreases in average rental rates in the current survey, falling to below or at early 2008 rates. The metropolitan Western Region of Connecticut had a substantial decrease of $74 in average rental rates.

The Spring 2009 Multifamily Market Report finds:

--  Modest growth in average rent and average rent per square foot for all
    of the New York markets surveyed, led by the Hudson Valley and the North
    Country Regions with increases of $18 in average rental rates;
--  Substantial decrease in Western Connecticut (Fairfield CO.), the most
    expensive market covered by this report, where the average rental rate fell
    by $74 to $1464, a level not seen since the Q1 2007 survey;
--  Decreases in average rental rates in Rhode Island (-$19), New
    Hampshire (-$8) and both regions of Massachusetts, falling back to or below
    early 2008 rates;
--  Modest to no growth in all other New England markets except Vermont
    where average rental rates grew by $13.
    

"We are finding that markets that did not have the highs in values and housing overstock are avoiding the lows seen in other markets," said Jesse Holland, president of Sunrise Management & Consulting. "Markets with large declines in average rental rates raise a concern for the markets ability carry the mortgage debt load acquired during market peak values."

The Sunrise Multifamily Rental Market Report includes the entire Northeast except New York City. The states surveyed and reported on include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. The research team at Sunrise & Management & Consulting compiled the information by surveying nearly 1950 apartment communities, representing 340,000 apartment units, and extensively updated the survey database.

The Sunrise biannual survey of rental conditions in the multifamily housing segment details average asking rents by unit mix and by square footage, and tracks historical trends on a county, regional and state basis. A regional summary report is available free of charge, at www.sunrisemc.com. Sunrise Management & Consulting will prepare customized reports to meet any user's specific needs. Information on customized reports can be obtained by contacting Sunrise at 518-782-0200.

The Sunrise Multifamily Database has led to the development of The Property Gauge(TM), a scoring and assessment process to identify risk in multifamily lending. Information about the process can be obtained at www.thepropertygauge.com.

Headquartered in Albany, NY, Sunrise Management & Consulting AMO is an innovative third party property management company providing property management services, market research, and consulting to property owners, investors and homeowner associations throughout the Northeastern United States. For information about Sunrise find us at www.sunrisemc.com.