DALLAS—While many segments such as self-storage are less generally impacted by volatility in the economy, Mountain Pacific indicates that multifamily also has strong fundamentals, making it a viable asset class long term. Mountain Pacific is a development firm created in 2019 to provide equity for real estate development and opportunistic value-add transactions with a focus on opportunity zones.

To be sure, there is an undeniable housing shortage in the US caused by growing rental demand, limited new construction and rising development costs. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, 4.6 million new apartments need to be completed by 2030 in order to keep with demand. Mountain Pacific believes that this persistent shortfall in the market's ability to meet housing demand will continue to promote strong asset class performance. Despite rising construction costs, the firm sees opportunities to develop apartments for renters at various income levels while still achieving superior risk-adjusted returns.

The lag in wage growth has resulted in significant migration into states and counties with lower costs of living and/or superior job prospects. Some of these counties include Maricopa County (Phoenix), Harris County (Houston), Dallas County, and gentrifying areas in and around Los Angeles County.