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.

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Kenneth J. Bacon

Director
Kenneth J Bacon

Kenneth J. Bacon was appointed to Arbor Realty Trust’s Board of Directors in April 2020 and serves as a member on the Audit and Corporate Governance Committees.

Mr. Bacon is co-founder and managing partner of RailField Partners, an investment management firm that invests in and operates multifamily properties on behalf of institutional investors. Prior to forming RailField, he spent 19 years at Fannie Mae as the Executive Vice President of Multifamily Mortgage Business, where he grew the firm’s portfolio from $56 billion to more than $195 billion. He also managed the American Communities Fund at Fannie Mae, which was established to provide loans and equity to for-sale and rental housing developments to increase the supply of affordable housing and to revitalize communities. Before joining Fannie Mae, he was Director of the Office of Securitization for the Resolution Trust Corporation and held officer positions at Morgan Stanley and Kidder Peabody.

Mr. Bacon also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Welltower and Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Martha’s Table and is also a board member at Comcast, Ally Financial, and the Urban Institute. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Dominium, one of the nation’s largest privately-owned affordable housing development and management companies. Mr. Bacon is active in several nonprofit and trade groups, including the Board of the Real Estate Executive Council, the National Multifamily Housing Council, and the Advisory Board of the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Mr. Bacon is an alumni and former trustee of Stanford University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts. He also has a Master of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the British government in recognition of his service to the Marshall Scholars program.

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