Research

Arbor recently spoke with Jamie Woodwell, VP, Research & Economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and used the opportunity to discuss the future of multifamily lending, trends in industrial and logistics spaces as well as the state of foreign investment in U.S. real estate.

Here’s a quick look at the small balance multifamily finance and investment benchmarks for Q2 2017.

In this post, we examine the income needed to rent affordably in small apartment buildings across the US. 

While single renters constitute close to half of the demand within small apartment units, their growth has been faster in larger buildings, where preferences by both age and gender play a significant role.

Though a clear majority of senior householders in apartments do not work, delayed retirement has become a rising trend. Since the financial crisis, this trend has created a growing demand segment for small apartment building owners.

Small properties, while historically low in attracting renters with disabilities, are becoming more sought after for their affordability.

Our research illustrates that senior rental location preferences are strongly segmented along both age subgroups and by housing costs. Metro market size also plays a large role.

While rents in prewar buildings can compete with newer stock overall, this story varies considerably across metro areas.

When it comes to apartments, general wisdom says that the newer the building, the higher the rent. This holds true until you reach the ‘prewar’ vintage, which can approach new inventory rent rates for smaller properties.

The composition of the American workforce varies significantly by metro market, and can include the public sector, local serving jobs as well as younger technology workers. In this post we’ll take a look at how small properties service the housing needs of the workforce in different cities.