NEW ORLEANS, LA - Five of the metro area's 14 apartment complexes with 150 or more units being built or undergoing renovation are in eastern New Orleans, according to the spring 2008 Greater New Orleans Multi-Family Report. The Walnut Square, Hidden Lake, Willows, Chenault Creek and Pirogue Cove developments account for 1,817, or 43 percent, of the 4,269 units being built in the metro area.
"East New Orleans has a tremendous velocity to its comeback," said Larry Schedler, co-author of the report. The average monthly rent reported in the east was $754, just ahead of Algiers ($744) and Metairie ($751). The highest average rent reported was $1,317 in the historic center of New Orleans, which includes the French Quarter, Marigny, Central Business District, Uptown and Mid-City. Regional occupancy rates were between 93 percent and 96 percent.
Schedler reports the pace of new multifamily construction has been "slowed considerably" by market factors ranging from the higher cost of equity to the reduced value of tax credits.
"The list of new properties under construction is virtually unchanged from six months ago," said J. Mark Maddderra, principal at the Madderra & Cazalot Real Estate Investment Bankers and report co-author.
Madderra forecast dim prospects for new investment in the next year but predicts new apartment inventory will be absorbed rapidly "as the pace at which these units are delivered continues to slow."
Source: City Business