ATLANTA—Multifamily developers are expected to deliver about 400,000 new apartment homes in 2015. This raises two concerns about what most of American renters need, according to Ella Shaw Neyland, president of Steadfast Apartment REIT, which has been acquiring multifamily assets in Atlanta and beyond.

“Although 400,000 is about 33% higher than the historic annual need for new supply, it does not catch up for the many years post recession where very few new apartment homes were constructed,” Neyland tells GlobeSt.com. “A recent report from Freddie Mac says that we may be in a situation where we are about 1.5 million apartment homes short of demand today. And that supply will not catch up with demand for the next nine years.”

Second, she continues, the majority of new construction is what the industry calls “luxury,” which is another way of saying expensive. At monthly rental rates that exceed one-third of most peoples monthly income, she says, this is creating a housing crisis for most of America.

“Especially since home ownership rates are the lowest in 20 years as new household formation is being created in renter households especially by the Millennials,” Neyland says. So the big question is what does this mean for multifamily owners? Neyland has some strategic insights worth noting.

“For owners of luxury apartments there is increased demand to capture fewer and fewer high income renters since wage growth remains muted,” she says. “For owners of moderate income apartments in high job growth markets, such as Steadfast, demand exceeds supply. To be able to offer an apartment home in an 'urbanized  suburban' neighborhood at a monthly rent that fits a resident's paycheck, is the key to a successful business plan that works for owners as well as their residents.”