Analysis

U.S. Multifamily Market Snapshot — May 2024

Key fundamentals of the U.S. multifamily remained strong to start 2024. Despite fears of oversupply, rent growth remained stable and vacancy rates remained near historical lows.

Articles

Arbor Marketing Campaign Wins Two Awards at Industry Gala

For more than 30 years, Arbor has been committed to building strong bonds with clients that lead to mutual success. This philosophy is at the heart of a unique Arbor marketing campaign, The Art of Growing Financial Partnerships, which received two awards at the 30th Annual Financial Communications Society (FCS) Portfolio Awards Gala in New York City on May 2. The campaign, which was featured in two private jet terminals, used original stained-glass pieces to build brand awareness among high-net-worth travelers.

Articles

Top SFR Annual Rent Growth Markets

Even as rents retreated elsewhere, single-family rentals (SFR) have continued to outperform all other housing sub-types, exceeding the all-property type national average in 17 consecutive months through February 2024, according to Zillow’s Observed Rent Index (ZORI). Annual SFR rent growth has seen substantial gains in many metropolitan areas since national rent growth peaked in March 2022. In this deep dive, the Chandan Economics and Arbor Realty Trust research teams pinpoint the metropolitan areas where SFR rents are rising the fastest.

Articles

Arbor’s New True Colors Show Our Creativity and Green Roots

For more than 30 years, Arbor has been committed to growing financial partnerships that meaningfully impact communities nationwide. From planting trees to celebrate closed loans to supporting environmental organizations, our work has always been a win-win for our financial partners and the planet. But just as leaves change with each passing season, Arbor’s branding is evolving to seize the moment by embracing our roots with True Colors.

Articles

Five Advantages of Adding Fannie Mae Green Rewards to a Multifamily Loan

Since the Fannie Mae Green Rewards program launched in 2015, green financing has become a mainstay of commercial real estate. In addition to reducing the environmental impact of multifamily housing, the Green Rewards program creates a triple bottom line with increased cash flows, higher quality housing, and lower energy and water usage. With a high upside and little downside, the program is well worth multifamily borrowers’ consideration.

Articles

CRE Solutions for a Greener Planet Build Momentum

From California wildfires to rising sea levels to Florida hurricanes, the direct and indirect risks of climate change have grown in recent years, making a more substantial impact on the multifamily sector. As the need for sustainability becomes increasingly apparent, lawmakers and lenders have advanced programs and policies that show “going green” is a win-win.

Current Reports

Affordable Housing Trends Report Spring 2024

As housing costs spiral, rental affordability has become a more urgent issue, burdening a greater number of Americans. Arbor’s Affordable Housing Trends Report Spring 2024, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, examines the major policies and programs shaping the marketplace at a time when overdue federal funding expansions have increased agency budgets.

General: 800.ARBOR.10

FREDDIE MAC

Credit Building

Arbor is working to make the industry more equitable for everyone. This includes establishing new ways to improve economic mobility and narrow the wealth gap renters may face today. There are 44+ million renter households in the U.S., but less than 10% of on-time rents are reported to credit bureaus. Overall, renters have much lower credit scores than homeowners and some renters have no score at all (i.e., “credit invisible”). To address these disparities, Freddie Mac will incentivize borrowers to report on-time rents through credit-reporting servicers, such as Esusu Financial Inc. Esusu’s platform enables reporting on-time rent payments to the three major credit bureaus, helping build renters’ credit scores.

Benefits for Renters
  • Establish credit scores for renters who are currently “credit invisible” and gives them the ability to improve credit scores for those with existing records.
  • A stronger credit score may enable renters to access diverse financing, obtain financing with lower interest rates, avoid unbreakable debt traps and qualify for future mortgages.
  • Only on-time rental payments are reported to the credit bureaus; renters are automatically unenrolled with a late or missed payment.
Benefits for Borrowers
  • Improve property collections – rent reporting motivates residents to make on- time payments.
  • Improve marketability and reduce turnover – 2 out of 3 surveyed renters would favor a property that offers these services.
  • Improve net operating income – more stable collections and lower turnover mean a better bottom line
Rent Reporting – How Esusu Works With Borrowers
  • Comprehensive Reporting: Esusu reports on-time rent payments to all three major credit bureaus
  • Immediate Impact: Esusu’s ability to report up to 24 months of historical payments means that some renters’ credit scores will increase immediately
  • Ease of Reporting: Esusu’s software links to existing property management software; this means no added work for borrowers or property managers to enroll renters
  • Impact Visibility: Borrowers receive feedback on property-level credit building through a real-time dashboard
Enroll Now Please reach out and enroll with Esusu directly at [email protected]

Borrowers participating in Freddie Mac’s credit-building program are eligible for the following discounts. Please reach out to your Freddie Mac representative for more details, including available subsidies.

Esusu Market Rates Freddie Mac Discounted Rates
Targeted Affordable Housing (TAH) and Conventional
Onboarding Fee $3,500 $3,500
Maximum Monthly Fees $2.00/unit $1.50/unit
*If multiple properties are enrolled at once, the enrollment fee is waived for each additional property after the first.
Small Balance Loans (SBL)
Onboarding Fee $3,500 No onboarding fee
Maximum Monthly Fee $2.00/unit No monthly fee
Maximum Annual Fee N/A 5-50 units  $1,000 >50 units  $2,000
Volume Discount N/A Enroll 10+   properties 30% Enroll 20+  properties 50%

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