The weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal described a surge in apartment building values driven by a surge in occupancy and rental rates around the country.  That's interesting to B'gamers because the common wisdom is that 55% of our housing is supposedly rentals.  I can't verify that, but it also doesn't surprise me.

The Journal notes that the surge is driven by mortgage foreclosures sending people to apartments, low interest rates making bonds less attractive, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buying apartment-building loans but not other commercial property loans, and an uptick in 24-34 year old employment rates which gives them the confidence to move out of shared arrangements and get their own places.

The article also talks about building owners flipping their buildings which might help our property tax rolls.  We'll see.  The Mercury Times noted that commerical property was coming back, too.