We are partnering with Multi-Housing News each month to look at what apartment renters say they want. In January, we dug into our database of resident survey data and looked at technology wish lists. Online rent payment is a common (and maybe predictable) item, but there was a lot of diversity in the responses. One resident in Chicago said this: “If we had known about the inability to get cell phone reception in our apartment, we would not have made the decision to move in.”

February’s topic was bathrooms. More electrical outlets? A separate entrance from the hall instead of a bedroom? Residents mentioned both. Also on the bathroom wish list: “I’d love to see a dog bath area—it’s hard to wash my pup in the bathtub.”

To see more about the potentially surprising items on apartment renters’ wish lists, check out the technology and bathroom features on www.multihousingnews.com. Also, be on the lookout for March’s feature on fitness centers.

Tags: Multi-Housing News, multifamily, resident surveys

Kingsley Associates tracks national and market trends in office tenant perceptions each quarter. This quarter’s results show that tenant loyalty – as measured by the percentage of tenants who told us they “probably” or “definitely” would renew their lease – is at its highest point in the last 3 years (see the chart below).

This quarter’s results reveal some interesting differences across markets as well:

• Atlanta office tenants are the most optimistic about hiring additional people and needing more space.
• Nowhere in America are office tenants less interested in environmentally sustainable building practices than in Dallas.
• San Francisco exceeds the national average in tenant satisfaction, loyalty and economic outlook.
• In New York, tenant satisfaction and loyalty dipped during Q4.
• Tenants in Chicago are among the happiest, most loyal and most optimistic in the nation.
• Interest in environmentally sustainable building practices fell sharply in Denver throughout 2011.

The full press release is available on our Website here. To download the data itself (in PDF format), click here.

Tags: CRE, real estate industry trends, tenant survey

Kingsley Associates released its Q4 2011 Multifamily Industry trends analysis today, which revealed a continuation of a downward trend in resident loyalty. The full text of the press release appears below. (To download a PDF, click here.)

Kingsley Associates Releases Fourth Quarter Multifamily Industry Trends

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Latest Survey: Renters’ Renewal Intent Falls Below 60%

(SAN FRANCISCO–January 25, 2012) Apartment resident renewal intent continued its downward slide during Q4 2011 as the year ended with only 59.5 percent of renters indicating they “definitely” or “probably” would renew their lease. This figure, based on Kingsley Associates’ latest resident survey results, represents a new three-year low and is down from a high of 65.0 percent reported as of June 30, 2010.

While renewal intent trended down in 2011, overall resident satisfaction remained stable.  For the most recent four quarters, 76.2 percent of residents rated their overall satisfaction as “excellent” or “good,” compared to 76.3 percent for the prior period and 76.0 percent at the end of Q2 2011.

“In many ways, multifamily real estate has led the economic recovery,” comments John Falco, Principal, Kingsley Associates. “As renters themselves recover, there are indications that more of them are renting by choice. They aren’t unhappy – just choosy.”

Three observed trends support the hypothesis that more residents are choosing to rent in multifamily housing rather than enter (or re-enter) the ownership market:

1.  As of the end of 2011, 45.9 percent of surveyed apartment residents indicated that they live alone, an increase of over 2 percentage points from earlier in the year.
2. Residents 55 and older now make up 13.4 percent of surveyed renters, compared to 12.6 percent for the period ending in Q2 of 2011.
3. For the first time in recent memory, households with incomes $75,000 or more now comprise a greater share of surveyed renters (32.0 percent) than those earning less than $40,000 (30.7 percent).

These and other findings are available in Kingsley Associates’ Q4 2011 Multifamily Trends.

Kingsley Associates surveys in excess of 1 million apartment units annually on behalf of its clients. The findings outlined above are based on survey responses received between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.

Tags: multifamily, real estate industry trends, resident surveys

Our resident survey research shows that residential renters’ intent to renew is at its lowest point since Q4 of 2008. It is down from last quarter across most major markets, with Washington, DC being a notable exception. Kingsley Associates COO David C. Smith offers some commentary in this press release. Twelve consecutive quarters of data are also available in the underlying data set.

Tags: David C. Smith, multifamily, resident surveys

According to Kingsley Associates’ latest research, office tenant loyalty is at its highest point in three years. Tenants are also seeing more value for what they pay in rent, and more of them anticipate needing additional space than at any point since before the 2008 financial crisis. Check out our Q3 2011 Office Industry Trends press release or go straight to the data.

Tags: CRE, Jim Woidat, office building, real estate industry trends, tenant survey

Kingsley Associates and BOMA have released the Autumn 2011 edition of the BOMA-Kingsley Report, a semiannual paper that takes an in-depth look at big topics in the office building industry. An analysis of data from the 2011 Experience Exchange Report (EER) forms the centerpiece of this issue, with a key finding being that office building owners and managers were able to hold costs relatively stable last year. In fact, utility expenses and property taxes both fell by substantial margins over the prior year – at least in terms of the national average.

The current issue also includes several other features:

• “The Numbers Tell the Story” analyzes some major expense line items across building types and major markets.
• A panel of leading industry figures look toward the future of performance measurement in “The Next Generation of Benchmarking.”
• In “Deconstructing Density,” BOMA’s Laura Horsley investigates the acceleration of tradition-challenging methods of using office space.

Tags: BOMA, CRE, EER, office building, real estate industry trends, real estate whitepaper

Each quarter, Kingsley Associates releases its Multifamily Industry Trends. Here are a few highlights, based on surveys conducted at over 800,000 apartment units in the four quarters ending in June of 2011:

• After peaking in the middle of 2010, resident satisfaction and renewal intent continued to trend downward
• Residents in Chicago reported the highest level of satisfaction of any major market
• Community management was as big a factor as apartment features/finishes for residents unlikely to renew their leases

Tags: CRE, multifamily, real estate industry trends, resident surveys

Kingsley Associates has released its quarterly office trends for Q2 2011. Among the interesting findings:

• More tenants anticipate the need for additional space than at any point since before the 2008 financial crisis
• Tenants in Boston and San Francisco report greater need for additional space than those in other major markets
• Tenant satisfaction is at an all-time high
• Interest in green building practices is beginning to trail off ever so slightly

For more, see the full press release or download a PDF copy of Kingsley Associates’ Q2 2011 office industry trends.

Tags: CRE, office building, real estate industry trends, tenant survey

On May 5, Kingsley Associates’ Phil Mobley was a panelist at the BOMA Medical Office Building Seminar in Dallas, Texas. Click on the image below to hear a brief snippet from the session about property management excellence.

Tags: BOMA, Medical Office Building, Phil Mobley, tenant retention

Kingsley Associates’ John Falco will lead an interactive panel discussion titled Managing the Resident Experience at the National Apartment Association (NAA)’s Education Conference in Las Vegas on Friday, June 24th at 8:30 am. This session will focus on the ever-increasing sophistication of resident feedback programs. Kingsley will be joined by industry heavyweights AvalonBay, UDR and Milestone to share real-life examples of strategic choices driven directly by the collective voice of the customer. Panelists will share their insights and experiences on such topics as:

•           The importance of obtaining resident feedback

•           Building company-wide buy in for your feedback program

•           The right survey methodology (it’s not the same for everybody!)

•           How to integrate resident feedback into operations

•           Using the right internal and external benchmarks

•           Setting internal goals and developing reward systems

•           Understanding shifting resident needs / perceptions

•           Supply / demand in the world of customer service delivery

Please join us in Las Vegas as we share the latest cutting-edge resident research and industry best practices.

Tags: John Falco, multifamily, National Apartment Association, resident surveys