Against increasingly turbulent macroeconomic conditions, capital sources in both the debt and equity markets are being pickier about which multifamily deals they finance or invest in, with higher required rates of return (RRR) emerging as the symbol of this newfound selectivity. The macroeconomic deck is indeed stacked against capital sources. Borrowing costs have quintupled over the last eight months as the Federal Reserve has waged war on inflation, rattling off seven rate hikes for an aggregate increase of 425 basis points. Prices of key construction materials continue to fluctuate wildly as labor issues, both domestic and abroad, continue to entangle global supply chains. But lenders and investors can only sit on the sidelines for so long. To hedge their bets against market conditions beyond their control, many capital sources in the multifamily space are only giving serious consideration to deals and projects in which the path to a certain rate of return — or exit cap rate — is clear and plausible. The movement in RRR that multifamily owners and developers are facing from their capital partners formed a core part of the discussion at the 13th annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference. Hosted by Atlanta-based France Media, the event took …
