The National Council of Housing Market Analysts (NCHMA) has released an updated version of its recommended guidelines for the content of market studies that are prepared by market analysts on proposed new construction and substantial rehabilitation of multifamily housing developments.
Key features of "Model Content Standards for Rental Housing Market Studies and Market Study Index" include assessment of the primary market area, supply and comparable property analysis, demographic and employment trends, and rent derivation. NCHMA's Model Content Standards are the only national standards for rental housing market analysis.
The most visible change is the introduction of general and product-specific requirements.
Also, the affordability/demand/penetration rate section "includes a major addition of net demand for overall rental housing based on Federal Housing Administration requirements (this was ultimately moved to the market-rate requirements). This approach expands the scope of the report beyond simply affordability analysis, which merely measures income-qualified households. The description of affordability and penetration was expanded," according to NCHMA.
The demographics section was rewritten, and a specific reference/requirement to include most recent Census data was added.
The documents are posted at www.housingonline.com/NCHMAModelContent.aspx.
