Unless an 11th-hour agreement is reached, a political impasse over budget legislation for the next fiscal year will trigger a federal government shutdown. Starting October 1, 2025, many non-essential federal government operations could potentially be limited or suspended, but most multifamily financing activities will not be disrupted.
Arbor Private Construction (APC), Arbor’s newest non-agency financing product, has seen robust demand during the first half of 2025, with high-profile transactions closed in strong markets like Surfside, FL, and Philadelphia, PA. Designed for shovel-ready projects, APC is a dynamic program expanding premium rental housing options in primary markets.
Arbor’s Single-Family Rental Investment Trends Report Q3 2025 documents the increasing strength and resiliency of the sector as it transitions to stable growth after a long period of rapid expansion. Rent growth remained positive last quarter, pushing up property-level yields as robust build-to-rent (BTR) construction activity continued to boost supply to a marketplace in need of quality rental housing.
As single-family rental (SFR) demand has risen, build-to-rent (BTR) development has become more efficient at creating a distinct, community-focused experience for renters. Newly released U.S. Census Bureau data confirms that while the pace of SFR/BTR construction slowed during the second-quarter, development has remained robust compared to historical trends.
Core small multifamily performance metrics strengthened in the quarter, including a return to positive annual price gains.
Arbor Realty Trust, a perennial innovator in commercial real estate finance, closed a unique $802 million collateralized loan securitization (CLO) in May 2025 that cements the multifamily lender’s position at the forefront of build-to-rent (BTR) financing.
After the volume of multifamily permits fell nationally in 2023 and 2024, this year is on pace to be a year of stabilization for multifamily development. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, out of the top 100 largest U.S. metros by population, 47 had more multifamily permits through the first six months of 2025 than they did over the same period last year. Driven by strong underlying multifamily demand, attractive investment opportunities are leading to rebounding construction pipelines. As multifamily permitting rises, we explore the markets where new permits issued are most concentrated and where construction activity is gaining momentum.
Arbor’s Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report Q3 2025, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, examines the factors behind the continued upward trajectory of the sector amid an ongoing capital markets recalibration. Several of its core performance metrics, including valuations, originations, and credit standards, have shown measurable improvement as a multifamily market-wide normalization takes shape. Supported by strong fundamentals, small multifamily stands tall despite economic uncertainty.
Elevated mortgage interest rates and high home prices boosted demand for single-family rentals (SFR) last year, supporting the growth of rents in almost all of the 100 largest metropolitan areas. Pricing momentum, which averaged 4.5% nationally, was concentrated in affordable markets in the Northeast and Midwest, an analysis of Zillow’s Observed Rent Index data shows.
Increasingly, single-family rental (SFR) operators have been relying on build-to-rent (BTR) development to satisfy their inventory needs. The popularity of BTR communities made economies of scale possible for the SFR sector in the recovery after the 2007 housing crisis and continues to fill a housing need nationwide. Now, newly released U.S. Census Bureau data shows that SFR development activity remained robust even as its momentum slowed, moving the sector into a more stable equilibrium.
With political headwinds reshaping the corporate responsibility landscape, commercial real estate (CRE) leaders, policymakers, and academics recently gathered in New York City for the NYU Stern Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance’s 3rd Annual Symposium on Innovation & Sustainable Real Estate to discuss the future of sustainable real estate finance, investment, operations, and technology. In a series of panel discussions, industry leaders offered their perspectives on how sustainability is evolving in a new political environment and why green policies still make business sense.
Rental housing remains uniquely positioned for continued growth in an environment of economic volatility and political uncertainty, 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, asserts in his video overview of Arbor’s Special Report Spring 2025.
Arbor’s Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report Q1 2025, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, examines a key commercial real estate sector that consistently shows stability amid ongoing economic volatility. Small multifamily continues to show positive trends in key indicators, such as asset valuations, originations volume, and construction, signaling that the sector should continue to overpower headwinds as it builds on its ongoing momentum.
With construction activity continuing to vary according to market, newly released U.S. Census Bureau data reveals emerging trends in multifamily building permits issued and how supply dynamics are poised to impact rent pricing patterns in the nation’s top 100 markets.