Of Interest

Heading into the new year, multifamily experts are concerned about how the industry will be impacted by the rise in interest rates as the Federal Reserve continues its efforts to cool inflation. While the industry benefited from strong rent growth and low interest rates during the pandemic, a deceleration in rents, although gradually, has been...

Interest rate hikes continue to impact the multifamily industry, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s quarterly survey of apartment market conditions for January. An economist for NMHC said rate hikes also are resulting in the higher cost of debt financing, which is causing buyers to seek a higher rate of return.

A report released in March by the NAIOP Research Foundation found that, since 2010, 885 office buildings throughout the country have been converted to multi-family residences. Conversions are typically 15 to 20 percent less expensive than new apartment buildings, the report said, with faster completion times and lower material and labor costs. These conversions are...

Inflation. When it hangs in, everyone is affected, consumers (at the end of the chain) but business and developers, too. This article suggests that when inflation is a problem, multi-family investment is a hedge against it. Is now a smart time to invest in commercial real estate, the writer asks. His answer? Oh yes.