Through September 2015, there have been 667 multifamily housing units permitted in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. This is well below the 2014 level of 1,533.
When asked about housing supply in Omaha, Def Leppard responded through their agent “We played two bloody nights at the Civic back in 1983. It was brilliant.”
The equilibrium level which keeps supply and demand in balance is roughly 1,000 to 1,200 units per year.
If you track the previous 12 months and include the last three months of 2014, permits totaled 1,164.
I suspect that 2015 permits will come in at roughly 1,200 as a few projects sneak in at year-end. Despite this fairly moderate number, experienced lenders have expressed concerns of over-supply.
Affordability will be a much bigger issue as rising costs force developers to ask for rents that are pushing the outer limits of income levels.
Recently, lumber prices have started stirring again.
