Multifamily acquisition yields and price per unit have hoveredat record lows for several years despite Treasury yields moving upand down by more than 150 basis points during that time. What doesthat mean for pricing? Yardi Matrix spells it out in its newestreport on the asset class: it means investors are willing to pay upeven as market conditions change. The average price per unit in2019 was $155,000, up 8.8% from 2018, it notes.

One troubling exception to this pricing trend is New York City,where multifamily property values were hit hard by the new rentcontrol law that limits rent growth, the ability to bring vacantunits up to market rates and the ability to raise rents inconjunction with property repairs, the report notes. "Transactionactivity for rent-stabilized apartments fell off in the second halfas owners tried to determine how much values have fallen, withestimates ranging between 25% and 50%," it said.