Articles

Top Markets for Multifamily Building Permits

Multifamily permitting trends indicate continued national stability amid local recalibration. Across the country, issuances were steady, rising just 2.6% in 2025. At the metropolitan level, trends diverged sharply, with some markets accelerating and others pulling back. Per-capita leaders continued to cluster around high-growth Sun Belt and regional hubs, while year-over-year market-level fluctuations suggest that more pipelines have become increasingly selective and, in some cases, more concentrated in large-scale projects.

Articles

Seven Facts About FHA Multifamily Loans

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is one of the largest mortgage insurers in the world. The agency insures mortgages on affordable housing, multifamily properties, single-family homes, and healthcare facilities. Since 1934,  FHA has financed over 50,000 multifamily mortgages nationwide. Whether you’re interested in acquiring, refinancing, or rehabilitating an affordable housing property, FHA multifamily loans are a financing route you need to know about.

FHA 232/223(f)

FHA® 232/223(f): Healthcare Refinance, Acquisition or Mod Rehab  

Articles

Top States for Population Growth

Despite a national slowdown, population growth remained concentrated in a small group of states in 2025, where strong net domestic migration inflows, economic opportunity, and in some cases elevated birth rates drove the annual increases. Overall, 14 states had an annual population growth rate above 0.75%, while 12 states had less than 0.1%, according to a Chandan Economics analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey.

Articles

Arbor’s Build-to-Rent Financing: 10 Reasons to Choose a Premier Lender

Build-to-rent (BTR), a compelling solution to the U.S. housing market’s evolving needs, is experiencing record growth. BTR accounted for 8% of all single-family rental (SFR) construction starts in the 12 months that ended in the first quarter of 2024, according to Arbor’s Single-Family Rental Investment Trends Report Q2 2024. As the need for quality rental units remains high, borrowers have much to gain from partnering with an experienced lender who specializes in build-to-rent financing.

Articles

Nearly All Metros Post Positive Rent Gains

National rent growth in the single-family rental (SFR) sector remained strong and consistent in 2025 as market-level pricing momentum was broad-based and robust, according to an analysis of newly released data from the Zillow Observed Rent Index. Year-end annual rent gains averaged 2.9%, down from 4.1% in 2024, marking the most modest increase since 2015. But even as the intensity of SFR rent growth abated last year, its reach was extensive, with 98 of the 100 largest markets posting year-over-year gains.

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Kenneth J. Bacon

Director
Kenneth J Bacon

Kenneth J. Bacon was appointed to Arbor Realty Trust’s Board of Directors in April 2020 and serves as a member on the Audit and Corporate Governance Committees.

Mr. Bacon is co-founder and managing partner of RailField Partners, an investment management firm that invests in and operates multifamily properties on behalf of institutional investors. Prior to forming RailField, he spent 19 years at Fannie Mae as the Executive Vice President of Multifamily Mortgage Business, where he grew the firm’s portfolio from $56 billion to more than $195 billion. He also managed the American Communities Fund at Fannie Mae, which was established to provide loans and equity to for-sale and rental housing developments to increase the supply of affordable housing and to revitalize communities. Before joining Fannie Mae, he was Director of the Office of Securitization for the Resolution Trust Corporation and held officer positions at Morgan Stanley and Kidder Peabody.

Mr. Bacon also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Welltower and Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Martha’s Table and is also a board member at Comcast, Ally Financial, and the Urban Institute. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Dominium, one of the nation’s largest privately-owned affordable housing development and management companies. Mr. Bacon is active in several nonprofit and trade groups, including the Board of the Real Estate Executive Council, the National Multifamily Housing Council, and the Advisory Board of the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Mr. Bacon is an alumni and former trustee of Stanford University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts. He also has a Master of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the British government in recognition of his service to the Marshall Scholars program.

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