A recent report from the National Multi Housing Council and National Apartment Association revealed that the multifamily rental sector plays a key role in the overall US - and California - economies. Apartments contributed a whopping  $1.1 trillion to the national economy in 2011. In fact, the industry contributed more than $3 billion to the economy on a daily basis - supporting 25.4 million jobs. Based on research done by George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, the study analyzes the economic contribution of apartment construction, operations and resident spending. The study also demonstrated that the multifamily industry is giving Southern California's economy a jump start as well, with the multifamily industry contributing 14.7 billion to the Los Angeles/Long Beach economy and supporting 107,000 local jobs. 

Multifamily Makes a Mark on National Economy

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Marking the third highest acquisition year in its history, Fannie Mae provided $33.8 billion in financing to the growing multifamily market in 2012. The company remained the largest source of multifamily financing last year, working with lender partners to finance nearly 560,000 units of multifamily housing.

Concentrating on expanding its presence in the region, Sunrise Management has opened a new Las Vegas office and tapped multifamily expert Kathy Relyea to take charge. Sunrise recently took over its first Las Vegas project, Boulder Palms Senior Apartments, and Relyea is overseeing that property.

Riverside County is projected to grow the most of any California county by 2060 to become the second-most populated in the state, according to a demographic report from the California Department of Finance. The county's population will almost double to reach 4,216,816 - a number second only to Los Angeles County. 

Home prices continue to escalate in the Phoenix-area, where the median single-family-home sales price shot up almost 34 percent -- $122,500 to $164,000 -- from December 2011 to December 2012. A new year-end report from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University provides a 2012 summary of the numbers for Maricopa and Pinal counties, as well as some insight on the future.

Phoenix's multifamily market has also demonstrated a remarkably fast post-recession recovery. Indeed, the Phoenix single-family housing market is one of the driving forces behind the local multifamily recovery. According to economist Elliot Pollack, the metro-area median home is expected to increase another 50 percent by the end of 2015-16.Not surprisingly, the catalyst for housing has been population growth. Over the past year, the metro Phoenix population has increased by 127,000 -- Arizona over the next five years is projected to gain more than 693,539 new residents, or almost 138,708 new residents 

per year.

Why Phoenix is the Valley of the Sun