Of the 50 or so active members of the Minneapolis Property Rights Group who have just houses and duplexes, we are averaging a vacancy rate of around 20% on our inner city properties. None of us has been contacted by GVA to find out the "real" vacancy rate.
Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Brandt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 4:46 PM Subject: [Mpls] Minneapolis population drop? > Several people have noted the healthy rise in rental vacancies in the > GVA Marquette Advisors quarterly survey. I've inquired in the past > about the rising vacancy rate in the context of a continuing portrayal > by advocates of an affordable housing crisis. That issue can be debated > by others at length. But it's important to note what GVA Marquette > measures--and doesn't. It is a seven-county survey, according to GVA > web site, rather than the 11-county area that Chris Johnson thought. > Whether that is significant depends on whether one views rental markets > as metro-wide or comprised of sub-metro markets. I tend to think that > for many people living in Minneapolis and looking for lower-cost family > housing, the market is sub-regional. More important to Minneapolis, GVA > Marquette surveys only "rental communities with 10 units or more." I > assume that means that the single-family, duplex, fourplex and eightplex > buildings common in Minneapolis neighborhoods are below the survey's > radar. Presumably this omission is for reasons of efficiency. It's > easier to get more data more quickly by surveying larger complexes. But > this at least leaves open the possibility that the low-end market is > tighter than market levels, as advocates assert. > > Chris Johnson asks about the dividing line for low income or affordable > housing. I'm not going to repeat the commonly accepted definitions here > because I've printed them in the paper so many times. The Family > Housing Fund has good calculations based on the commonly accepted > definitions at this web site: > http://www.fhfund.org/dwnloads/working_d.pdf > > Chris also asks what the real vacancy rate is in Minneapolis. > Unfortunately, that's not easy to answer. Brandt's First Law of Data > state's if there's recent data, it's a small sample, and if there's a > complete sample, it's out of date. The 2000 census was helpful as a > snapshot at that time, showing this to be about the nation's tightest > market, but time and rapid changes in the market have made that data > less on point. > > Finally, Chris notes the proliferation of unsubsidized units along the > river and asks how much is being built for people who can't afford > those. One Minneapolis-specific answer for 2002 can be found at: > http://www.mcda.org/whats_new/Newsreleases/multifamily_2.htm > > Steve Brandt > Star Tribune > > > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) > > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
