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Affordable HousingConference CoverageMarket ReportsMultifamilyTexasTexas Market Reports

InterFace Panel: Texas Affordable Housing Sales Volume Should Rebound Marginally in 2025

by Taylor Williams

By Taylor Williams DALLAS — As is the case for many commercial asset classes and markets in 2025, there is an expectation of elevated deal volume for investment sales of affordable housing properties in Texas. But brokers in that space caution that the rebound will likely be marginal and is not necessarily indicative of ideal market conditions taking hold. A quintet of panelists broke down this notion and others at the InterFace Texas Affordable & Workforce Housing conference on Feb. 13 at the Westin Galleria Dallas hotel. Mary Ann Bennett, senior managing director at BBG Real Estate Services, moderated the discussion on investment sales activity. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Panelist Michael Furrow, senior vice president of affordable housing at commercial finance firm BWE, took the audience of 200-plus back in time to illustrate just how quiet the past two years had been. He did so by providing statistics on affordable housing sales for Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) between 2021 — when multifamily rents and sales prices were peaking across the board — and 2024, when they …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesRetail

EEE: Emotion Is the Key to Achieving ROI with Today’s Entertainment Options

by Kristin Harlow

Gerald Divaris, chairman and CEO of Divaris Group of Companies and a panelist at last week’s Entertainment Experience Evolution (EEE) conference, produced by France Media’s Shopping Center Business and InterFace Conference Group, has a Shakespearean take on today’s retail environment. It’s that all the (retail) world’s a stage. “Retail is essentially entertainment,” he told a crowd of 500 attendees during the Leading Retail Landlords Panel at EEE, which was held Feb. 25-26 at the J.W. Marriott LA Live. “Otherwise, you’d be buying on Amazon.” Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Divaris expanded upon this notion, citing that even supermarkets have entertaining “stations,” TJ Maxx provides the opportunity to treasure hunt and Barnes & Noble has made a major comeback by doing little more than allowing guests to thumb through books. Panel moderator Nick Egelanian, president of SiteWorks, noted much of the current retail experience can be divided into two categories, though it may not be an even split. There are the items consumers want to buy quickly and easily (and arguably cheaply) online, and …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesNorth CarolinaSoutheastSoutheast Feature ArchiveStudent Housing

InterFace Panel: Slow and Steady Wins the Race for Student Housing Preleasing, Rent Growth in 2025

by John Nelson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, the 2025-2026 academic year moved further into focus. What can the industry expect to see this year from a preleasing perspective? Are rents expected to keep growing? And by how much? All of these questions and more were discussed during a kick-off panel at the 2024 LeaseCon/TurnCon conference by InterFace Conference Group, which took place this past December in Charlotte. As of Dec. 3, student housing properties across the country were 36.6 percent preleased on average — a 1.3 percent decline from rates seen at the same time in 2023, according to moderator Charlie Matthews, founder and CEO of data provider College House.  Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Of markets across the United States, the Southeast led the way with the highest preleasing percentage at 43.5 percent. Asking rents have congruently grown by 4.9 percent across the country as of early December, according to Matthews, with average rents at $990. Leading the way in rent growth for the 2025-2026 academic year …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesGeorgiaMultifamilyMultifamily & Affordable Housing Feature ArchiveSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

Stickiness of Renter Sets Build-to-Rent Sector Apart from Traditional Multifamily, Says InterFace Panel

by Kristin Harlow

ATLANTA — When considering a single-family, build-to-rent (BTR) development or acquisition, the main priority of the developer or investor is to focus on finding a place where people want to live, said Zach Persky, vice president of acquisitions for Quinn Residences. Access to jobs, retail corridors and good school districts are all important factors for potential residents. Persky was one of the speakers on the BTR panel at the 15th annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference, which took place Wednesday, Dec. 4 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. Kyle Palmer, managing partner of Palmer Real Estate Investment Services, moderated the discussion. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. While the BTR segment may still be in its infancy, its fundamentals are solid, according to the panel. Demand comes from would-be homebuyers who are priced out of the single-family market. These purpose-built rentals have many of the same perks of for-sale homes, such as yards and private garages, without the handicaps of down payment and mortgage commitment. BTR construction completions nationally totaled more than 50,000 units …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesHealthcareSoutheastSoutheast Feature ArchiveTennessee

Creative Capital, Partnerships Loom Large in Healthcare Real Estate, Says InterFace Panel

by John Nelson

NASHVILLE, TENN. — Healthcare real estate investment is at a pivotal point of this current cycle. On one hand, the investment sales market is expected to rebound heartily following a few subdued quarters. According to data from Maryland-based research firm Revista, investment sales volume for medical office buildings (MOBs) was $2.1 billion in third-quarter 2024, in line with the first two quarters of the year but down from more robust quarters in 2021 and 2022. On the other hand, funding this expected uptick in acquisitions will be more layered than ever before, even with the recent cuts to the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve. Ben Appel, executive managing director of Newmark’s healthcare capital markets team, said that the competition level is increasing as deals come to market, but what’s more notable is the capital stack behind those bids. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. “Today those bids have two to three different sleeves of capital behind them,” said Appel, who is based out of Newmark’s Philadelphia office. “We are seeing some of …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesMultifamily

InterFace Panel: Multifamily Markets Can Work With New Interest Rate Ranges

by Taylor Williams

By Taylor Williams ATLANTA — There is nothing wrong with the new interest rate environment that currently governs capital markets activity in commercial real estate, and borrowers just need to adjust their expectations, put them into historical context and get back to making deals. This is the view of at least a couple veteran lenders who spoke at the InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference on Dec. 4 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. The event is now in its 15th year and continues to attract hundreds of multifamily developers, investors and lenders from across the region. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Following two cuts totaling 75 basis points earlier this year, the target range for the federal funds rate, or the overnight interest rate at which banks lend to each other, currently sits at 4.5 to 4.75 percent. This year’s cuts marked the first monetary easing by the Federal Reserve in more than four years, and while at least a couple more slashes to the overnight rate are anticipated in the coming months, …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesNortheastNortheast Feature ArchivePennsylvaniaSeniors Housing

Stars Are Aligned for Healthy Seniors Housing Investment Climate in 2025, Says InterFace Panel

by John Nelson

The investment market for seniors housing is in a favorable position heading into the new year thanks to a confluence of factors, says Scott Corbin, director at Boston-based AEW Capital Management. The firm has roughly $3 billion in assets under management within this niche property type. “We’ve seen a full rebound in recovery. We’re not necessarily back to pre-pandemic [profit] margins, but we are getting close. We are seeing outsized NOI growth and outsized rent growth when you compare it to other asset classes. We have the demographic tailwinds. In addition, you have muted supply [growth],” explained Corbin, a panelist at the InterFace Seniors Housing Northeast conference, which took place Dec. 4-5 in Philadelphia. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Joining Corbin on stage at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia were moderator Kory Buzin, director, Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors; and panelists Curtis King, executive vice president, HJ Sims; Dennis Murphy, chief investment officer, Priority Life Care; Rick Swartz, senior managing director, JLL; and Shani Walter, managing director, Omega Healthcare Investors.  The daylong conference, …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesGeorgiaMultifamilyMultifamily & Affordable Housing Feature ArchiveSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

InterFace: Multifamily Investors Are Bullish on 2025 Sales Market, Though Many Hurdles Will Carry Over into New Year

by John Nelson

Speakers on the investment sales panel at the annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference were overall bullish on the sector’s investment prospects in the new year. The event, now in its 15th year, was held on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. To kick off the panel, moderator Paul Berry, president and COO of Mesa Capital Partners, discussed what a recovery could look like in terms of investment sales volume. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Berry said that in the six years leading up to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, annual U.S. multifamily investment sales volume hovered between $155 billion to $195 billion per year. He noted that due to robust inventory growth during that time, a “normal” yearly sales total would average out to $180 billion to $190 billion. “2021 saw ‘double normal’ — it was $350.7 billion,” said Berry. “The first three quarters of 2022 were at that same level before it slowed down by the end of the year, but it still eclipsed $300 billion.” He …

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MFTX2024-Investment-Panel
Conference CoverageMarket ReportsMultifamilyTexasTexas Market Reports

Sweet Spot: The Ideal Cap Rate Range for Buying Multifamily Assets in Texas Today

by Taylor Williams

By Taylor Williams The concept of cap rates is an interesting phenomenon when you stop to think about it. Short for “capitalization rate” and calculated as net operating income (NOI) divided by sales price, this all-important real estate metric represents a page borrowed from Wall Street’s playbook, a savvy maneuver by investors to create a vehicle of asset valuation and apply it to select securities on a widespread basis. The circumstances of the metric’s inception are largely unknown, but all that matters is that the real estate industry has successfully propagated the use of cap rates as a crucial mechanism to underwriting and pricing transactions for these assets. And the most basic thing to know is that to a point, sellers like low cap rates because they reflect high purchase prices, and buyers prefer high cap rates for the opposite reason. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Yet for all their ubiquity, cap rates are fluid, representing snapshots of valuations at random points in time. Tenants move out, leaving spaces vacant, and a property’s …

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Conference CoverageMarket ReportsMultifamilyTexasTexas Market Reports

InterFace Panel: Institutional Capital’s Return Signifies Long-Term Strength of Austin Multifamily Market

by Taylor Williams

By Taylor Williams AUSTIN, TEXAS — Sources of institutional capital are slowly trickling back into buyer pools of deals for multifamily properties in Austin, a move that marks an inflection point within the sector as a whole and speaks to investors’ long-term faith in that market’s fundamentals. And faith is perhaps just what the doctor ordered. In some ways, Austin has become a victim of its own success over the past decade, a sort of cautionary tale of growth gone too heavy too fast. The feverish attempts of multifamily developers to keep pace with demand during that time have come to a head, and the market now languishes in a state of oversupply. With rents softening and interest rates only just now showing concrete signs of decreasing, institutional capital has been more than content to sit on the sidelines of this market for the past 18 or so months. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. But that is starting to change, at least according to a panel of multifamily investment sales professionals who spoke …

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