AIM 2024: The Big Picture: Economic Insights and Marketing Innovations in Multifamily

The Big Picture: Economic Insights and Marketing Innovations in Multifamily

Today’s economic picture is driving housing choice and affecting apartment marketing strategy.

The Federal Reserve has had a particularly strong effect on the housing market the past few years.

Redfin’s Chief Economist, Daryl Fairweather, said the Fed has been fighting inflation for 2 1/2 years, making it more expensive to buy a home due to rising and persistently high interest rates.

“Because it’s too expensive for many renters, they stay on his renters,” Fairweather said. “The economy has been doing better, if not pretty well, lately. Inflation is slowing. We’re going to be in a higher rate environment for a few months, we expect the soft landing, no recession.”

She said for now, people can spend their money on rent and just ride it out. There’s no shame in being a renter.

Fairweather said that immigration will continue to affect things. The peak of immigration was in 2022 and it has declined ever since. People are heading south because that’s where most of the new housing is located. Immigration is creating more demand for rental properties. The election results coming up will impact rents.

However, moving has become an affordability issue.

The panel discussed how marketing strategies can help to leverage opportunities and mitigate risks.

According to Revai Seiler, VP, CRM, Data and Marketing Analytics, Rent, since the pandemic, there are more people who are choosing to rent.

“They are looking for the flexibility in that lifestyle,” she said.

She said it’s surprising that people don’t know that much about where they want to move.

“They are also looking for transparency and what the rent rates will be,” Seiler said. “You have to provide tools and content for them. We can inspire new renters about where they should move, but older renters usually already know where they want to live.”

More Interesting Points

• During tough budget situations like these, marketers aren’t always able spend on campaigns unless they are measurable – even though marketers know that some strategies that work are tough to measure – such as determining attribution.
• Matt Doris, VP B2B Marketing, Rent, said this is a great time for property managers to build “community” with their residents. These efforts can then be amplified by the renters on their social media channels.
• “We see that 53% of millennials are on Pinterest looking for apartments,” Doris said.
• Seiler said when facing flat or declining marketing budgets, use AI to drive content because it costs less and saves time.