Midwest

By Jeff Erxleben, president, debt & equity at Northmarq Liquidity and an incredibly positive outlook for single-family build-to-rent (BTR) properties is helping to offset some of the turbulence developers are experiencing from rising interest rates. Developers have been ramping up the pace of single-family BTR construction over the past five years with forecasts that call for a record high 60,000 new units to be completed in 2022. That volume shows a steady increase over the 53,000 units completed in 2021 and 49,000 in 2020, according to Northmarq’s recently released Single-Family Build-to-Rent Properties Special Report. Although financing across all property types has been impacted by upward movement in both short- and long-term borrowing rates, the BTR sector is in a good position to shake off those challenges and maintain its growth momentum. Higher construction and financing costs are being offset by rising rents with year-over-year rent increases, that in many areas of the country, are quite substantial. Developers also are finding good access to both debt and equity. The number of lenders that are active in the space is expanding as developers move into new markets and continue to prove out business models and performance with successful lease-up and dispositions. For …