The Survey of Market Absorption (SOMA) measures how soon privately financed, nonsubsidized, unfurnished units in buildings with five units or more are rented or sold (absorbed) after completion. In addition, the survey  collects data on characteristics such as number of bedrooms, asking rent, and asking price.

The estimates in this report are based on responses from a sample of the population. As with all surveys, estimates may vary from actual values because of sampling variation or other factors. All comparisons made in this report have undergone statistical testing and are significant at the 90-percent confidence level.

• An estimated 56,700 apartments were completed in buildings with five units or more in the second quarter of 2007. This estimate was not statistically different from the completions in the previous quarter, but about 14,000 units fewer than the completions in the same quarter of the previous year (Table 11).

• Of the 56,700 units completed in the second quarter of 2007, approximately 26,900 were privately financed, nonsubsidized, unfurnished rental apartments. This estimate was not different from the revised estimate of unfurnished units completed in the previous quarter, nor different from the completions in the same quarter the previous year (Table 1).

• An estimated 54 percent (seasonally adjusted) of the newly completed, unfurnished apartments built in the second quarter were rented (absorbed) within 3 months of completion. This estimate is not significantly different from the previous quarter, yet about 7 percentage points lower than in the same quarter of the previous year (Table 1). The not-seasonally-adjusted 3-month absorption rate of 60 percent for the 26,900 apartments completed in the second quarter of 2007 is about 8 percentage points higher than the previous quarter, yet is lower by about 7 percentage points than the rate in the same quarter of 2006 (Table 1).

• The median asking rent for all privately financed, nonsubsidized, unfurnished rental units completed in buildings with five units or more in the second quarter of 2007 was $1,013. This estimate is not significantly different from the median asking rent of the previous quarter. Of the new units built in the second quarter of 2007, units containing two bedrooms accounted for about 51 percent of the total. Units that contained one bedroom accounted for about 18 percent, followed by those with three bedrooms or more (9 percent), while efficiencies (no bedroom) accounted for 2 percent of the total (Tables 2 and 3).

• During the second quarter of 2007, the South had the majority with 61 percent of new unfurnished rental completions. The West (25 percent) had the second highest proportion of new rental completions. The Midwest (8 percent) and the Northeast (6 percent) did not differ significantly (Table 4).

• An estimated 22,400 condominium and cooperative apartments in buildings with five units or more were completed in the second quarter of 2007, not significantly different from the revised number in the previous quarter, yet about 4,400 lower from the same quarter of 2006 (Table 5). In the second quarter of 2007, condominiums and cooperatives accounted for about 39 percent of all completions in buildings with five units or more.

• About 65 percent of the 22,300 condominium apartments completed in the second quarter of 2007 were sold within 3 months of completion (Table 6). This rate is about 6 percentage points higher than the rate from the previous quarter. The median asking price for condominiums built in the second quarter of 2007—$349,600—cannot be compared to the median asking price of the previous quarter because it exceeded the upper limit of the price range (Tables 6 and 7).

• Of the remaining apartments completed in all buildings with five units or more in the second quarter of 2007, 6,400 units were federally subsidized or received a tax credit, about 1,100 units represent the other units in the survey, and fewer than 50 units were furnished (Table 11).