‘No Vacancy’ due to Coronavirus
Full Service Property Management hung out a ‘No Vacancy’ sign last week when its portfolio vacancy dipped to a record low of 0%. That’s right — hundreds of properties under management and the only available units are from clients we just signed up.
“Typical market vacancy is between 5-10% in a strong market.”, said founder and CEO Peter Nelson. “We had been running a steady 4% for about 6 months prior to this virus hitting. But now over the past 1-1/2 months we have seen even that dry up to nothing.”, he added.
Most renters stayed home (as ordered by WA governor Jay Inslee), and did not seek new housing. In-migration into Seattle to fill jobs from Amazon, UPS, and other employers benefiting from this virus has created a housing shortage even more severe than before the pandemic hit. Nelson noted that while traffic for available units had slowed in April, it picked up in May with most prospects being what he dubbed ‘high quality’.
“This is no time to be looking for a new place. Vacancies are down, and competition is fierce.”, Nelson continued.