Market Reports

By Taylor Williams On some level, they knew this was coming, right? They just thought it would be over by now.  Indeed, the expression, “survive till ’25” has proven insufficient as a barometer for when the multi-year slowdown in multifamily rent growth and valuations — inevitable consequences of the record-high sales prices and record-low cap rates that were achieved in 2021 and 2022 — would eventually fizzle out. Unprecedented supply growth in recent years, catalyzed by historically low interest rates and insatiable demand and taken to perhaps the highest of highs in Texas, has, unsurprisingly, generated cyclical pain in subsequent years. True, that pain is submarket-specific and is likely on its way out, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s tough sledding for many multifamily owners right now.  “Multifamily has had almost everything possible thrown at it in the past few years: interest rates rising, rental rates flatlining due to supply growth and operating expenses going up across multiple categories, from payroll to insurance to repairs/maintenance,” says John Griggs, co-CEO and co-founder of Texas-based developer Presidium. “Everything started flipping the wrong way at the same time. Some of those variables may correct in our favor, but it’s now been …

By Matthew Auchincloss With prices of construction materials perpetually up across the board and labor shortages persisting, multifamily developers have long been searching for new ways to improve efficiency both in pre-planning and in actual construction. That’s unlikely to change any time soon. But the quest for elevated efficiency has recently taken a number of different forms, according to Nikolas Fowler, a multifamily project executive at Birmingham, Ala.-based general contractor Hoar Construction. “What you’re starting to see is more use of off-site construction, whether it’s traditional volumetric modular or panelized or bathroom pods or some of the other things that are out there today,” says Fowler. “As more and more people realize the advantages of those systems and we have more and more challenges with labor, you’re going to continue to see people looking for new innovative ways to make those projects pencil out.” 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. Construction is historically not a very innovative industry. According to research from McKinsey, construction is the second-least digitally updated industry for the modern era; the first is agriculture and hunting.  “One didn’t change for thousands of years, the other didn’t …

By Alan Stalcup, founder, CEO, GVA Real Estate Austin’s apartment inventory grew 33 percent from 2020 to 2025, according to data from Marcus & Millichap — the fastest rate in the country. In addition, data from CoStar Group and the U.S. Census Bureau show that vacancy is sitting at 14 percent, roughly double the national average. That’s what happens when every investor in America chases the same story at the same time. Austin isn’t a bad market. It’s a great city. But the math doesn’t work right now. When vacancy is 14 percent and new supply keeps getting added, buyers aren’t buying yield; they’re buying a prayer. The opportunities in Texas didn’t disappear; they moved. And they moved to places most investors aren’t looking. The Places Nobody’s Watching The Rio Grande Valley has between 1.4 and 1.5 million people, according to Census data. That’s not a small market. It’s a large, underfollowed one. McAllen, Harlingen, Brownsville — these cities have real population bases, stable renter demand and almost no institutional competition. Rents sit around $700 per month. GVA has been pushing $240 increases — roughly 30 percent — with light improvements. Not gut renovations or repositionings of assets, just new …