Originally published on August 3, 2022, by the National Multifamily Housing Council.

Nearly 4.3 million new apartments will be needed across the U.S. by 2035 to meet housing demand, according to research released July 28 by the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association. Currently, there is a shortage of around 600,000 units, and the number of affordable apartments — those with rents less than $1,000 per month — has declined by 4.7 million between 2015-20.

Originally published on July 6, 2022, by Paul Bergeron for Globest.com.

Multifamily construction in the U.S. is at its highest level in 40 years, leaving some markets at risk of oversupply, according to an Apartment.com/CoStar report, GlobeSt.com reported on July 6. The most at-risk markets are Phoenix; Tampa, Florida; and Austin, Texas. Markets approaching the risky category are Raleigh, North Carolina, and Las Vegas.

Originally published on June 9, 2022, by Elizabeth Thompson and Stephanie Pagan for NAHB.

Regulation imposed by all levels of government accounts for an average of 40.6 percent of multifamily development costs, according to new research released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC).

Originally published on February 7, 2022, by Lester Davis for NFHA.

Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and 20 fair housing organizations throughout the country reached a landmark $53 million agreement with Fannie Mae (formally known as the Federal National Mortgage Association). The settlement resolves the groups’ claims that Fannie Mae treated homes it owned in majority-Black and Latino communities unfavorably. The settlement will help rebuild and strengthen communities of color in 39 metropolitan areas. In the case, the plaintiffs alleged that Fannie Mae maintained and marketed its foreclosed homes in predominantly White neighborhoods while allowing homes in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods to fall into disrepair and that this differential treatment exacerbated the damage caused by the 2008 mortgage crisis and impeded recovery from the crisis in neighborhoods of color. The case was the first time a federal court confirmed the nation’s fair housing laws cover the maintenance and marketing of Real Estate Owned (REO) properties.

Originally published on June 30, 2021 for Freddie Mac.

A new white paper pdf from Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) Multifamily studies the impact of the end of eviction moratoriums and role of rental assistance as the nation recovers from the economic impact of COVID-19. As eviction moratoriums and renter protections lapse, Freddie Mac is encouraging renters and property owners to proactively understand and seek available rental assistance to help mitigate the remaining economic challenges as the country emerges from the pandemic.

Originally published on April 28, 2021, by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

​​​​​​Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will implement a new refinance option for low-income borrowers with Enterprise-backed single-family mortgages. Eligible borrowers will benefit from a reduced interest rate and lower monthly payment. FHFA estimates that borrowers who take advantage of the new refinance option could save an average of between $100 and $250 a month.  

Originally published on April 22, 2021, by ATTOM Staff for ATTOM Data Solutions Blog.

IRVINE, Calif. — Apr. 22, 2021 — ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database, today released its first-quarter 2021 Special Coronavirus Report spotlighting county-level housing markets around the United States that are more or less vulnerable to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic that continues to impact the U.S. economy. The report shows that states along the East Coast, as well as Illinois, were most at risk in the first quarter of 2021 – with clusters in the New York City, Chicago and southern Florida areas – while the West continued to face less risk.

Originally published on March 30, 2021, by The Conference Board.

The Consumer Confidence Survey® reflects prevailing business conditions and likely developments for the months ahead. This monthly report details consumer attitude, buying intentions, vacation plans and consumer expectation for inflation, stock prices and interest rates. Data are data available by age, income, region and top 8 states.

Originally published on March 30, 2021, by Rebecca Meeker and Nuno Mota for Fannie Mae.

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country in 2020, it touched nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy. In the housing market, new listings, home sales, and residential construction all plummeted in the spring of 2020. In the following months, however, the housing market proved resilient, with home sales and new construction reaching decade highs amid historically low mortgage rates.

Originally published by Kate Duguid for Reuters.com on February 22, 2021. 

Rising sea levels and extreme weather could cause $20 billion of flood damage to at-risk U.S. homes this year, rising to $32 billion by 2051, according to research from New York-based flood research non-profit First Street Foundation published on Monday.

Originally published on February 18, 2021, for the National Association of Home Builders.

Housing production softened in January as rising lumber prices continue to affect the housing industry. Overall housing starts decreased 6.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.58 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

In NAIOP’s sixth monthly survey tracking the effects of the pandemic on the commercial real estate industry, respondents reported continued gradual improvement in deal activity, but also reported more tenants seeking rent relief, particularly in the office sector. 

The survey was completed by 203 NAIOP members between September 15 - 18, 2020. Respondents represent a range of professions, including developers, building owners, building managers, brokers, lenders and investors.

Last year, developers in the U.S. completed 211,000 new housing units in buildings of 50 units or more, the biggest number on record. The total number of new apartments constructed didn’t come close to setting any records, though.

These numbers are from Characteristics of New Housing, an annual Census Bureau data release that is so chock-full of interesting information (for example: 88% of apartments completed in 2018 had in-unit laundry facilities) that I briefly contemplated interrupting my vacation to write about it when it came out two weeks ago. I resisted then, but now I’m back at my desk and the new numbers don’t seem to have gotten much attention. They should!

By Kerry Curry

With late 2018 jitters gone and investor optimism returning, the commercial real estate market should experience mostly steady cap rates through the first half of 2019, although there are particular market segments and geographies that could experience some bumps.

By Tim Wang and Julia Laumont

A major and unprecedented structural shift has occurred in the real estate market due to a variety of demographic and socioeconomic factors. Occupied U.S. rental apartment units rose by 20 percent above the prior 10-year period. Real estate investment managers’ allocations to institutional-quality multifamily product have risen on the ongoing strength in property fundamentals.

By Adam Descanctis

Steady commercial real estate markets, along with equity and debt availability, are expected to keep commercial and multifamily mortgage originations roughly on par with the volumes seen the past two years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2019 Commercial/Multifamily Real Estate Finance Forecast, released here today at the 2019 Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo.

By Andrea Riquier

Commercial real estate in large urban areas will be the big winner from the tax scheme aimed at boosting investment in needy areas, according to an analysis released in November.

Strong market conditions helped fuel a 6 percent increase in multifamily lending in 2017 as lenders provided a record high $285 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

"The multifamily lending market in 2017 benefited from improving fundamentals, rising property values and low interest rates," said MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell. "The result was larger loan sizes and record levels of overall borrowing and lending."

Confidence in the multifamily housing market edged down in the second quarter of 2018, according to the Multifamily Production Index (MPI) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MPI dipped two points to 51 compared to the previous quarter.

The MPI measures builder and developer sentiment about current conditions in the apartment and condo market on a scale of 0 to 100. The index and all of its components are scaled so that a number above 50 indicates that more respondents report conditions are improving than report conditions are getting worse.