Investment

Special Report Spring 2026: The State of Rental Housing

Arbor Realty Trust and Chandan Economics’ latest Special Report leverages industry-leading data analysis to interpret key multifamily real estate trends as the sector moves from recalibration to stabilization. With occupancy levels remaining strong and loan originations rebounding sharply, this biannual report outlines why now is an opportune time to deploy capital.

Articles

America’s Aging Rental Stock is Driving Demand for Smarter Capital Solutions

The nation’s rental housing is older than at any point on record, with a median age of 45 years, according to the 2026 America’s Rental Housing report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS). America’s aging housing stock has created unique opportunities as the need for capital investments to rehabilitate and preserve affordable housing units rapidly rises.

Current Reports

Single-Family Rental Investment Trends Report Q1 2026

Arbor’s Single-Family Rental Investment Trends Report Q1 2026, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, spotlights how market shifts, including the rising cost of living and historically high build-to-rent activity, have fueled record rental household growth.

Articles

Top Markets for Multifamily Building Permits

Multifamily permitting trends indicate continued national stability amid local recalibration. Across the country, issuances were steady, rising just 2.6% in 2025. At the metropolitan level, trends diverged sharply, with some markets accelerating and others pulling back. Per-capita leaders continued to cluster around high-growth Sun Belt and regional hubs, while year-over-year market-level fluctuations suggest that more pipelines have become increasingly selective and, in some cases, more concentrated in large-scale projects.

Articles

Seven Facts About FHA Multifamily Loans

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is one of the largest mortgage insurers in the world. The agency insures mortgages on affordable housing, multifamily properties, single-family homes, and healthcare facilities. Since 1934,  FHA has financed over 50,000 multifamily mortgages nationwide. Whether you’re interested in acquiring, refinancing, or rehabilitating an affordable housing property, FHA multifamily loans are a financing route you need to know about.

FHA 232/223(f)

FHA® 232/223(f): Healthcare Refinance, Acquisition or Mod Rehab  

Articles

Top States for Population Growth

Despite a national slowdown, population growth remained concentrated in a small group of states in 2025, where strong net domestic migration inflows, economic opportunity, and in some cases elevated birth rates drove the annual increases. Overall, 14 states had an annual population growth rate above 0.75%, while 12 states had less than 0.1%, according to a Chandan Economics analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey.

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Ivan Kaufman on Yahoo! Finance: Why Multifamily Outperforms

Ivan Kaufman on Yahoo Finance

COVID-19 and Demographics Shift Housing Preferences to Suburbs

Watch the full Yahoo! Finance Interview here.

There are winners and losers with COVID-19. Ivan Kaufman, the founder, chairman and CEO of Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ABR), discussed on Yahoo! Finance why Arbor and the multifamily sector have remained strong throughout the pandemic.

Apartment housing has outperformed all other asset classes, Kaufman explained to “The First Trade” co-hosts Brian Sozzi and Alexis Christoforous. “On the multifamily side, there has been only a slight drop off in rent collections and occupancy.”

With assistance from the CARES Act, “People did very well initially. They caught up with their bills. They kept their rents current,” said Kaufman. He pointed out that earlier in the crisis, unemployment hit 14% but has dropped to approximately 8% and continues to improve.

“Our baseline on people paying rent is extraordinarily good,” he stated. Conditions are beginning to return to normal. However, Kaufman projects certain challenges still lie ahead for urban areas.

Data shows that several years ago, people began leaving cities. Millennials had started to move to the suburbs to form families, and COVID-19 has accelerated the trend. Anticipating this trend, prior to the coronavirus turbulence, Arbor focused investments in suburban properties. Now, suburban housing is seeing price appreciation and greater demand with a lack in inventory.

Kaufman advises investors to look at macro trends. Numbers have been supporting suburban growth, but having kept a keen eye on telling data such as urban mobility tracking, he nonetheless projects that cities will return to normal in the future. He anticipates young people will continue to find the allure of urban areas. A year from now, looking at metropolitan universities welcoming back students, and restaurants and offices reopening, Kaufman opined most people believe the situation will be about 95% back to normal.

“It’s going to be a very bumpy fall but I think the worst is behind us,” he said.

Watch the full Yahoo! Finance Interview here.

Learn more about Arbor’s multifamily investment solutions. Contact Arbor today to see how our products could assist your business goals.