KEY POINTS Apartment demand in the second quarter of this year spiked 11% from a year ago. That pushed rents up an average 3% nationally to $1,390 per month, according to RealPage, a real estate software and analytics company. Despite the increase, a record 82% of renters say renting is more affordable than owning, according to a new survey from Freddie Mac, up from 67% just a year ago. In the D.C. suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, a massive apartment rental and... [read more]

  Real Estate developer Jeff Greene scored the city’s approval to build micro units at his proposed West Palm Beach development. The Downtown Action Committee gave the green light for units sized between 300 square feet and 549 square feet, smaller than the city’s 550-square-foot minimum for apartments, the Palm Beach Post reported. Greene’s project, a 348-unit building, will have one parking space for every two micro apartments. The board’s approval... [read more]

  While millennials in the U.S. are often known as perennial renters, their counterparts in China are snapping up overseas homes on their smartphones. Apps like Uoolu, which helps buyers open bank accounts and apply for mortgages in other countries, enable Chinese millennials to easily purchase foreign properties, the Wall Street Journal reported. These young buyers are driven by a weakening yuan and increasingly strict controls on the amount of capital permitted to leave the... [read more]