A wide gap exists between the demand among multifamily residents for high-speed Internet services and the marketing and promotion of those services by on-site leasing agents, according to the exclusive research findings of Dallas-based digital living research and analysis firm Parks Associates, released this week at the 2008 Multifamily Executive and Developer conferences in Las Vegas.
According to the survey results, 44 percent of multifamily executives feel that in-unit wired broadband is likely to influence the sale or rental of a multifamily unit, compared to 38 percent who feel that a state-of-the-art fitness center will influence the sale or rental and 34 percent who say a pool will be a transaction influencer. Yet compared to pools and fitness rooms, the availability of broadband is mentioned less than half as often to residents who are shopping for a new apartment or condominium.
"Approximately a third of consumers go into the decision process wanting to know what the technology offering is," explained Parks Associates president Stuart Sikes during his keynote review of the survey results. "Multifamily executives need to have their properties do a better job promoting the broadband services that have already been identified as critical to market competitiveness."
Survey results additionally indicate that 85 percent of multifamily firms are not planning on changing their technology investment levels in 2009 compared to 2008. According to the survey, the median investment range for multifamily technology products and infrastructure is 1 percent to 5 percent of the total project cost.
A copy of the presentation with the survey results is available by contacting Bill Ablondi of Parks Associates at [email protected].
