by Calculated Risk on 4/26/2011 05:22:00 PM

• From the Associated Estates Realty Corp (AEC) conference call, an apartment REIT in IN, OH, MI and PA (ht Brian):

Looking at certain performance metrics throughout our portfolio, we continue to see residents staying longer - on average, 18 months. Also, it has been well publicized, households have a greater propensity to rent versus own as renting allow for increased financial flexibility and physical mobility. To this point our annual resident turnover is down 10 basis points year-over-year and buying home as a reason for moveout is just over 14%, down from better than 25% just a few years ago. These trends are contributing to increased occupancy, increased rents, and improved same community NOI as a result of the lower turnover costs.

Other apartment owners have also told me that the number of renters "moving out to buy a home" is way down.

• Although LPS has not released their mortgage metrics for March yet, I've heard that the "foreclosure in process" category is at a record high (no surprise) while the overall delinquencies declined sharply (a seasonal decline is normal for March). Also Freddie Mac released the monthly volume report for March, and they showed 90+ day delinquencies down to 3.63% - a high level, but the lowest since September 2009. I'll have graphs for both reports in the next few days.

• Earlier I posted the ATA press release showing the trucking index was up 1.7% in March.

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

Here is a long term graph that shows ATA's Fore-Hire Truck Tonnage index.

On House Prices earlier:
• Case Shiller: Home Prices near post-bubble lows in February
• Real House Prices and Price-to-Rent
• House Price Graphs