Small multifamily starts the year from a position of strength with normalizing expense ratios and healthy occupancy rates. After demonstrating resiliency amid headwinds, this subsector is ready to capitalize on any positive momentum in the financial markets. Arbor’s Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report Q1 2024, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, examines and explains the key developments every investor needs to know.
In the previous two years, Sun Belt markets dominated the top rent growth lists, as pandemic-related re-shuffling settled. In 2023, the list of top markets became much more diverse.
The most recent America’s Rental Housing 2024 report published by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) takes a detailed look at the state of the rental housing industry.
As part of its focus on mission-driven lending, Fannie Mae recently introduced a new loan product designed to expand affordability and increase accessibility in communities across the country. The government-sponsored agency’s new Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce (SDW) Housing product provides financing for the creation and preservation of affordable workforce housing in underserved communities without the necessity of government subsidy.
As borrowing costs rose and rent growth slowed, multifamily developers pulled back the reins in 2023. Nationally, the number of multifamily building permits sank 20.3% last year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. However, there are many metropolitan markets where activity has not slowed. In this deep dive, our research teams show which metros led the nation in multifamily permitting activity in 2023.
Now as old as 26, Generation Z is on the cusp of reshaping the rental market as they leave the nest in increasing numbers. In fact, it is the only generation adding rental households, while the amount of millennial renters has already peaked. Gen Z, the first digital natives, is poised to become the most influential demographic in the multifamily rental market.
The state of housing affordability in the U.S. has continued to erode as a growing wave of supply-driven policies offers hope of a solution on the horizon. A closer look at the nation’s overall housing needs underscores the increasing urgency of the situation.
Driven by investor confidence in multifamily housing’s long-term fundamentals, the volume of debt outstanding in the sector has grown by nearly 150% since the end of the Great Recession. As this piece will detail, where investment dollars have flowed, housing demand has followed. Through an analysis of newly released U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data, our research teams pinpoint the growing size and scope of the largest rental housing property type.
Even as some developers have pumped the brakes on single-family construction, construction starts of single-family rental (SFR) units soared to a new record high in 2022 — a signal that demographic and structural tailwinds continue to outweigh cyclic recessionary headwinds.
Even as the economy’s momentum slowed in 2022, multifamily construction continued to ramp up, reaching highs not seen since the 1980s. As the number of new units increased rapidly last year, the multifamily sector’s share of all new residential construction also expanded to make up more than one-third of all starts.
The outlook for the single-family rental (SFR) sector continues to be upbeat even as rent growth cools nationally. Build-to-rent (BTR) communities have been expanding their footholds in neighborhoods across the U.S. These starts hit a new record high as rental demand has risen from would-be home buyers priced out of ownership by high interest rates.
Because single-family rental (SFR) properties tend to be located in the suburbs and away from public transportation hubs, the typical tenant drives to work. As a result, an area’s typical commuting time is a factor that is often weighed heavily by residents — impacting rental demand and pricing.
The small multifamily sub-sector ended 2022 on a high note with originations falling just behind 2021’s peak. As economic storm clouds continue circling, small multifamily appears fortified from any reverberations that may result.
Passed in the 11th hour of the 117th Congress, the $1.7 trillion federal spending package prioritizes the expansion of affordable housing in 2023 through increased funding for targeted programs.