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Apartment Finance Today: Red Flags

April 3, 2011

...Here are three factors that could continue to influence jobs and demand for apartments.

1. Public Sector Woes

The whole country has been watching the municipal happenings in Wisconsin. And the Dairy State isn't the only victim: State and local budgets across the country are tapped out.

..."If you get new jobs, it's a plus," says Stan Ross, chairman of the board at the University of Southern California (USC) Lusk Center for Real Estate. "If you lose the jobs, whether it's school teachers, police, or any kind of government service, layoffs could have an effect. Those are significant."

...3. Homeownership Issues

The gap between homeownership and rentals is still wide, even almost five years after the real estate meltdown. Ross says his students at USC found that there was still a 30 percent to 35 percent premium to own a home.