Senior renters are increasingly choosing multifamily housing, with more than half now living in these rental properties, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Where they live — both by property type and by metropolitan area — provides insight into how housing preferences, local market conditions, and migration patterns shape rental housing demand.
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Arbor is proud to have planted thousands of trees in the past 40 years – nearly 22,000 in the past five years alone – and we’re still going strong. Since day one, Arbor’s focus on community-building, which grew from the forward-thinking vision of Chairman, CEO, and President Ivan Kaufman, has defined the company’s direction and driven its philanthropic activities.
The single-family rental (SFR) sector continued to demonstrate resilience in early 2026, even as home price appreciation cooled.
Renters accounted for roughly four-in-five new households last year, demonstrating how much rental demand has climbed while the for-sale housing market remains soft. Based on an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, Arbor Realty Trust and Chandan Economics examine how rental and homeowner growth in 2025 compare and outline the economic factors supporting the rise in demand across multifamily and single-family rental (SFR) housing.
Arbor Realty Trust’s Top Markets for Multifamily Investment Report, developed in partnership with Chandan Economics, weighed 25 variables within 10 categories to pinpoint the large metropolitan areas that are this spring’s most attractive locations for commercial real estate investment.
In many urban areas, densely concentrated housing, strong transit networks, and walkable neighborhoods offer residents viable environmentally friendly commuting alternatives. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Arbor Realty Trust and Chandan Economics examined commuting patterns of workers living in multifamily rental housing in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas to identify where renters rely least on private cars to travel to the office.
Arbor Realty Trust, a long-term partner of Project Destined, is once again reaffirming our commitment to the next generation of commercial real estate leaders by participating in two new programs this spring that will provide students with invaluable insight into multifamily real estate and single-family rental (SFR) financing.
Small balance multifamily lending volume in the first half of 2019 totaled $58.5 billion on an annualized basis, representing a 7.9% gain from 2018’s total.
Whether the macroeconomic and real estate cycle continues to lengthen or we begin to see signs of a market correction, we can expect the small balance market to hold steady as lenders continue to maintain conservative underwriting. In the interim, favorable interest rates will elevate refinancing activity, and the sector’s continued maturation and increased agency support will continue to promote liquidity in the space.
For more insights on the small balance multifamily sector, read Arbor Chatter’s “Q2 2019 Small Balance Multifamily Investment Trends Report.”
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