Employment, housing trends spur positive momentum in commercial market: MBA

Spurred by recent improvement in nationwide employment, the commercial real estate market is beginning to firm up, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s second-quarter market report. The office sector improved as “businesses eased job cuts and started to hire,” in the second quarter, according to a statement from the MBA. Meanwhile, in the multi-family market, a nationwide trend toward renting a home — rather than owning — has helped landlords. “Since the end of 2005, census figures indicate the number of households owning their home has declined by 370,000 while the number of households renting has increased by 3.25 million,” the MBA said. TRD