Pockets of worry in US apartment market

[NEW YORK] Over the last year, the apartment developer Arnie Gregory has opened 236 units in two early 1900s warehouses in the trendy downtown Minneapolis North Loop neighbourhood. All are full and fetching higher-than-expected rents by about 25 US cents a square foot.

But a 171-unit development opening later this year in the urban Lyn-Lake neighbourhood south of downtown may be his last for a while, amid growing unease that apartment construction may outpace demand.

"Everything that is being built and delivered is filling just fine," said Mr Gregory, owner of Greco, a real estate development and management firm. "But there is a lot of product being delivered in the next 12 months. A lot. I'm always worried about being the last one at the trough."