Multifamily Fundamentals Are Still Fairly Strong Say Panelists

By Natalie Dolce

LOS ANGELES—The GlobeSt. Multifamily national conference kicked off this morning with a state of industry panel that brought together the most influential dealmakers in the U.S. multifamily real estate market. The panelists discussed key trends, major market shifts, the impacts of inflation on the multifamily sector, the road to economic recovery, and their expectations for another record year in multifamily. 

Moderated by John Sebree, SVP and national director of multifamily at Marcus & Millichap, the panel kicked things off by making one thing clear: that while many are trying to figure out if we are in a recession yet or not, fundamentals in multifamily are “still fairly strong.”

Still, it is undeniable that the sector is facing some headwinds.

According to panelist Robert LaFever, managing director of development at Greystar, the company is still actively pursuing deals and are studying macro locations, he said, but is being “much more selective.” 

Chad Sanderson, senior principal of business development and acquisitions at the Bascom Group, advised that industry needs to “buckle up, because there will be pain, but you have to do what you have to do.” He also said it has never been more important than ever to study characteristics of a particular deal because there are so many moving pieces. “A lot of things coming out on the market right now are just not trading. There are times when you can have a macro approach to markets…you have to be mindful of supply, are there specific sectors that have higher unemployment. If those things are in check, then you are looking at the specific deal… Just getting a loan right now has changed so dramatically and that is driving your underwriting.”

Sanderson added that you have to think about your strategy, think about how to mitigate risk with uncertainty, and figure out how to manage your investment portfolio. “Everyone had their thoughts of how things were going to unfold. One camp said that inflation and rates will come back down but then inflation took off even further.”

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