DALLAS—While many segments such as self-storage are lessgenerally impacted by volatility in the economy, Mountain Pacificindicates that multifamily also has strong fundamentals, making ita viable asset class long term. Mountain Pacific is a developmentfirm created in 2019 to provide equity for real estate developmentand opportunistic value-add transactions with a focus onopportunity zones.

To be sure, there is an undeniable housing shortage in the UScaused by growing rental demand, limited new construction andrising development costs. According to the National MultifamilyHousing Council, 4.6 million new apartments need to be completed by2030 in order to keep with demand. Mountain Pacific believes thatthis persistent shortfall in the market's ability to meet housingdemand will continue to promote strong asset class performance.Despite rising construction costs, the firm sees opportunities todevelop apartments for renters at various income levels while stillachieving superior risk-adjusted returns.

The lag in wage growth has resulted in significant migrationinto states and counties with lower costs of living and/or superiorjob prospects. Some of these counties include Maricopa County(Phoenix), Harris County (Houston), Dallas County, and gentrifyingareas in and around Los Angeles County.