The Southern California apartment market will get a boost this year from various factors, including the "subprime mortgage meltdown," according to a forecast released by the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. Other factors include steady job growth, high home prices, strong investor interest, and favorable long-term interest rates, said Delores Conway, director of the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast. "Stricter lending standards following the subprime mortgage meltdown are causing many potential homebuyers, who now face a larger downpayment and higher monthly payments, to find renting more affordable," Ms. Conway said. The Lusk Center can be found online at http://www.usc.edu/lusk.
