"Apartments continue to do a brisk business, and rents continue to rise even as home sales begin to pick up.
"Household formation is reviving, despite sluggish employment growth, and the recovery in demand is spreading from rental units to the owner-occupied sector," said economist Nigel Gault of IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.
Lending for multifamily construction totaled $110 billion in 2011, 60 percent more than in 2010, the Mortgage Bankers Association said last week."