Market Intelligence: Q2 Macroeconomic Update
The national economy has seen a sharp increase in uncertainty in the early months of 2025. Still, despite the lingering unknowns downstream from ongoing trade policy discussions, some key indicators for the apartment market remain strong.
Job growth continues to perform well. Wage growth continues to outpace inflation as inflation continues to normalize from its recent peak. And the general market-rate renter appears to be in good economic condition, based on the health of metrics such as rent-to-income ratio.
But weak first-quarter GDP and sharply declining sentiment among consumers and businesses alike suggest that the risk of broader macroeconomic stressors must be closely watched in the second half of 2025.
Join RealPage® industry experts for a recap of the current state of the U.S. economy and a discussion of their outlook for what's to come later this year along with implications for the multifamily sector.
Arben Skivjani serves as a Deputy Chief Economist and Data Scientist for RealPage, Inc. His primary focus is on forecasting and econometric modeling, economic impact studies, reporting and analysis of macroeconomic trends that affect the multifamily industry. Prior to joining RealPage, Arben worked for several government and private sector entities, including the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services, Center for Business and Economic Development at the University of Alabama and Camoin Associates in Upstate New York.
Arben is heavily involved in the Dallas/Fort Worth Association for Business Economics where he currently serves as Vice President and is a member the National Association for Business Economics.
Arben holds a master’s degree in economics from The University of Alabama.
Carl Whitaker
Vice President & Chief Economist, RealPage, Inc.Carl Whitaker is RealPage’s Chief Economist, leading the company's team of economists and market analysts. Carl and the Market Intelligence team specialize in analyzing and disseminating economic and market trends for the rental housing industry. He primarily focuses on presenting trends in the rental housing industry to a wide audience, including investors, asset managers, operations professionals and media, among other personas. Carl has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and GlobeSt and is a frequent keynote speaker for industry events. Carl holds degrees from the University of North Texas, including a Master of Science in Applied Geography.
