Los Angeles-based Mountain Pacific OpportunityPartners is bullish on multifamily investment in both thenear- and long-term. Despite the current market dislocation causedby the coronavirus pandemic, the apartment sector still hasattractive fundamentals, like a supply shortage and risingdevelopment cost, both of which are unchanged by the pandemic. Inaddition, job loss and low wage growth will create more demand forrental product.

"Multifamily provides attractive, risk-adjusted returns withrelatively low volatility," Joan Kramer, a partnerat Mountain Pacific Opportunity Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. "Ourbusiness focuses on markets in which we believe have historicallybeen undersupplied as well as locations that are on the border ofareas that have already improved in which our site is in thedirection of growth."

Wide scale unemployment, however, will be a significantchallenge for multifamily investors. Certainly, rents will beimpacted, and migration patterns could shift as renters look forjobs in new, more affordable markets. However, Kramer expectsminimal negative impacts in emerging markets. "Because we look tomarkets that have been historically undersupplied, we think thatthese markets will rebound ahead of the general economy," she says."For Mountain Pacific, the transaction has to work, regardless ofwhether it is an opportunity zone project/location, and then we addthe economics of opportunity zones on top of that."