Equity Residential sees solid demand on coasts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States' residential apartment market remains solid, with both young professionals and retirees boosting demand in key urban areas along the coasts, a top executive at Equity Residential EQR.N said on Monday.

"We continue to see a great deal of traffic, a great deal of activity; we are retaining more tenants than we have in the past," David Neithercut, president and chief executive officer of the largest U.S. publicly traded apartment owner said at the Reuters Real Estate Summit in New York. "We see no reason why we won't be able to continue to raise rents for some time."

Neithercut said that members of the Baby Boom generation, now hitting their 60s, and their children are driving demand for housing along the coasts of the United States, influencing where jobs are being created and driving up prices.

Reflecting that trend, the Chicago-based company is focusing its investments on those areas.

"Where are they going to want to live, work and play? I don't think it's Kansas City, St. Louis, Milwaukee. We think it's the coasts (and in) Atlanta, Dallas ... Phoenix," Neithercut said.

He said he expects high prices for houses across much of the United States to continue to steer first-time buyers toward lower-priced condominium properties.