Articles

The Most Active Markets for New Multifamily Development in 2025

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.

Current Reports

Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report Q3 2025

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.

Analysis

U.S. Multifamily Market Snapshot — August 2025

The U.S. multifamily market stood on the cusp of a new cycle at the halfway point of 2025, as demand continued to be driven by favorable demographic trends and a structural need for housing.

Articles

Small Multifamily Continues Steady Price Growth

Small multifamily valuations realized positive year-over-year growth in the second quarter of 2025, demonstrating the sector’s ongoing resilience in an unsettled economic environment. Steady rent growth, improving operating expense ratios, and stable cap rates helped move price growth into positive territory.

Articles

Metro-Level SFR Rent Growth Trends in the First Half of 2025

Albany, NY, and many other affordable mid-sized metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) outpaced the national rent growth average for single-family rental (SFR) properties in the first half of 2025, according to an analysis of Zillow’s Observed Rent Index, which tracks the 100 largest markets in the U.S.

Articles

Larger Buildings and Smaller Units: How New Multifamily Completions Continue to Evolve

Driven by high construction costs, land constraints, and rental affordability, developers are increasingly prioritizing smaller units in higher-density multifamily properties. Utilizing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual Survey of Construction, the research teams at Chandan Economics and Arbor Realty Trust have analyzed how the characteristics of new multifamily properties continue to evolve.

General: 800.ARBOR.10

Arbor Realty Trust Launches Rental Assistance Program

Arbor Realty Trust Launches Rental Assistance Program

Multifamily lender Arbor Realty Trust is launching a national $2 million rental assistance program.

NEW YORK CITY- Multifamily lender Arbor Realty Trust and its ecosystem of borrowers and property owners are extending a hand to tenants and families impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with the launch of a national $2 million rental assistance program. The Arbor Rental Assistance Program will act as supplemental income to existing government rent relief programs, using private capital to fill the loss of income for impacted families, David Lynd, CEO of multifamily development and management firm LYND, tells GlobeSt.com. LYND is an Arbor borrower.

“The apartments we finance are homes to millions of workers who comprise the backbone of this nation,” said Ivan Kaufman, president and CEO of Arbor Realty Trust, in a prepared statement. “We’re all in this together, and if we all come together to help, we can make a notable difference with an eye towards the future and a recovery from this unprecedented health crisis.”