Analysis

U.S. Multifamily Market Snapshot — May 2025

The U.S. multifamily market continued to settle into a normalized cycle, despite ongoing uncertainties surrounding the global economy and labor market. There is a rising tide of optimism for the sector ahead and investors are continuing to take advantage of market opportunities.

Articles

Dr. Sam Chandan Dissects What’s Driving Top Market Growth

In a rapidly evolving economic environment, the top markets for multifamily investment tend to shift quickly. In this video, Dr. Sam Chandan, founding director of the C.H. Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business and founder of Chandan Economics, discusses the findings of Arbor’s Top Markets for Multifamily Investment Report Spring 2025, which was developed in partnership with Chandan Economics.

Articles

Top Markets for Rental Demand Growth

Population growth, a critical factor in assessing rental housing demand, increased 0.9% in the U.S. during 2024, the fastest annual rate since 2008. However, growth rates were much higher for many markets, especially those in Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas. As first explored in Arbor’s Top Markets for Multifamily Investment Report Spring 2025, we dive deeper into metro-level population growth in markets with at least 500,000 residents to find the nation’s top markets for rental housing demand growth.

Articles

Arbor Recognized for Excellence from Agency Partners

Arbor’s platform of diverse multifamily financing solutions, combined with our strong industry relationships and our commitment to accuracy and close collaboration with our government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) partners, drives us to the top of the multifamily lender rankings year after year. Through decades-long relationships with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA, our best-in-class team delivered results for our borrowers in 2024, propelling Arbor to the top of the partner rankings.

Articles

Renters See Apartments as ‘Forever Homes’

Today’s renters are in it for the long haul. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s recently released 2025 SCE Housing Survey shows that the average renter thinks there is a two-in-three chance they will rent for the foreseeable future. With home prices and interest rates unfavorable to would-be homebuyers, we explore renters’ perceptions and how they could impact future rental housing demand.

Current Reports

Top Markets for Multifamily Investment Report Spring 2025

Arbor’s Top Markets for Multifamily Investment Report Spring 2025, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, is your roadmap to the best locations to deploy capital. Based on the findings of our exclusive Multifamily Opportunity Matrix, this in-depth analysis assesses economic strength and market capabilities to navigate evolving conditions of the top 50 largest U.S. metros.

Research

Arbor’s data-driven articles and research reports empower multifamily and single-family rental investors and developers to make more profitable financial decisions.

General: 800.ARBOR.10

Single-Family Rental Investment Trends Report Q4 2024

SFR Construction Soars Amid Favorable Trends in Cap Rates and Debt Yields

With home prices nearing all-time highs, single-family rental (SFR) housing is uniquely positioned to capture an even larger slice of the for-sale market. As structured capital markets rebound, SFR will benefit from a set of tailwinds that include robust levels of new construction and favorable trends in cap rates and debt yields. Arbor’s Single-Family Rental Investment Trends Report, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, shows why this sector’s prospects are so strong.

 

Key Findings:

  • SFR/BTR construction starts surged, reaching a new high of 9.0% of all single-family development activity.
  • SFR CMBS activity in 2024 has already more than doubled 2023’s total.
  • Rent and home valuation growth rates continued to moderate.