This week’s news analyzes the data on how the multifamily and single-family rental (SFR) sectors are faring, with autumn heading into the colder months. We released our Arbor Realty Trust Q3 2020 Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report, revealing some favorable surprises for the sector. For example, multifamily prices have rallied and are even up .1% year-over-year. Multi-Housing News covers NMHC President Doug Bibby’s market views, including how millennials will continue to migrate to the suburbs but high-rise urban properties will make a future comeback. MHN honored Doug with a Lifetime Achievement Award. John Burn Real Estate Consulting notes how even with the COVID-19 economic downturn, SFR rents continue to climb. Kim Betancourt, Fannie Mae’s senior director of economics and multifamily research, tells the Mortgage Bankers Association that although the recession will impact apartment housing into early next year, demographics favor multifamily in the long run. Finally, citing Census Bureau data, the National Association of Home Builders reports that there’s an increase in multifamily units built in smaller properties, reversing a trend in recent years that favored larger buildings.
Q3 2020 Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report
Arbor Realty Trust – November 5
“Small multifamily maintains its penchant for stability.”
Urban Cores to Survive, Says Bibby at CPE-MHN Summit
Multi-Housing News – November 6
“The reality is people, especially young professionals, will want to live in an area where they can easily commute to work and enjoy everything that vibrant cities offer them.”
Burns Single-Family Rent Index™ Shows US Rents Up 3.8% YOY in September
John Burns Real Estate Consulting – November 4
“Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, U.S. single-family rents continue rising, with September’s growth of 3.8% YOY exceeding the 3.4% YOY historical average dating back to 1985.”
Multifamily Market Musings: Conversation with Fannie Mae’s Kim Betancourt, CRE
Mortgage Bankers Association – November 3
“Although there has been a rise in vacancy rates in some metros and rents have declined, we expect the overall multifamily sector to weather the storm better than other commercial real estate property types.”
Smaller Multifamily Buildings Gain Market Share in 2019
NAHB – November 2
“Development of smaller multifamily properties, such as duplexes, quadraplexes, and detached townhomes also reflect the burgeoning ‘light-touch’ density housing market, which are also the ‘missing middle’ market in America.”
