Equity Residential Reports That 93% of Tenants Made April Rent. Will This Continue?
As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, more and more Americans are losing their jobs. Stocks for apartment real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been sold off with the rest of the REIT sector. Some of the mortgage REITs are being looked at like bankruptcy candidates, and investors are starting to worry about retail REITs that aren't receiving rent.
But what about apartment REITs? How are they holding up in the crisis?
The National Multifamily Housing Council reported that 31% of renters missed their April rent payment, up from 18% a year ago. So far, about 22 million people have filed initial unemployment claims in the U.S. since the lockdown began about one month ago, and that number is probably understated as state unemployment systems have been overwhelmed with applicants. This works out to be roughly 15% of those who were employed at the end of February.
Source Fool.com
