Briefs: California Apartment Forecast; Manufactured Housing Dispute Resolution

Lusk Center: SoCal Faces Higher Apartment Demand
Higher apartment demand across Southern California will keep vacancies low and drive significant rent increases over the next two years, the 2016 USC Casden Multifamily Forecast said.

“Though multifamily construction permits are back to pre-recession levels and have provided some relief, population and employment growth are driving up demand faster than new inventory can hit the market,” said USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Interim Director Raphael Bostic. “For renters, new construction has simply kept a bad situation from getting drastically worse.”

Despite construction permits for more than 38,000 new units issued in 2015–the highest since before the recession–vacancy rates will continue their gradual decline through 2018, the report predicted. As a result, average rents could increase over 2015 levels by $109 in Los Angeles County, $149 in Orange County, $84 in the Inland Empire and $155 in San Diego County by 2018.

The University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate and Beacon Economics prepared the analysis of 52 southern California submarkets.

HUD Launches Manufactured Housing Dispute Resolution Program

HUD announced new tools this week to help consumers and the manufactured housing industry resolve disputes.  HUD’s Office of Manufactured Housing Programs launched a website and other tools to help homeowners, manufacturers, retailers and installers navigate the dispute resolution process in states without their own process. 

Twenty-three states currently operate without a HUD-approved dispute-resolution program. HUD updated its dispute resolution program in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The HUD Manufactured Home Dispute Resolution Program will address defects in construction, safety and installation, but does not address cosmetic issues and contractual agreements. 

Most requests for dispute resolution come from homeowners, but retailers, manufacturers and installers can also submit a request at www.huddrp.net.