Multifamily investors are no longer making broad regional bets. Instead, they are leaning into increasingly nuanced, market-by-market decisions that reflect differences in supply pipelines, regulatory environments and rent growth potential.
That shift was a central theme at the GlobeSt. Multifamily Owners Summit in Tampa, where panelists described strategies that are diverging not just by region, but often by submarket.
Pat Gniadek, senior vice president of investments at AvalonBay Communities, said the company has focused on acquiring assets in markets with limited near-term supply pressure, a strategy that guided roughly $900 million in acquisitions in 2024. But that approach has also led the firm to step back more recently as new deliveries peak in several markets.
"We are waiting for supply conditions to normalize," Gniadek explained.
While AvalonBay has pulled back amid supply concerns, JVM Realty is finding opportunity in a different set of conditions. Adam Short, CIO of JVM Realty, said the firm remains active in the Midwest, where it sees a combination of steady rent growth and favorable replacement-cost dynamics supporting investment.
In contrast, JRK is pursuing opportunities in coastal markets that tend to entail greater regulatory complexity. Danny Lippman, president of JRK, said those constraints can be mitigated by stronger rent growth, allowing the firm to generate returns in markets others may avoid.
"We have had a lot of success in buying in some of these blue, more highly regulatory states," he said.
For TruAmerica Multifamily, the deciding factor is less about how restrictive a market is and more about how predictable those rules are. Wes LaBar, executive managing director and head of acquisitions, said the firm is willing to invest in heavily regulated markets like Los Angeles, where it recently acquired two properties, as long as the regulatory framework is clear.
"As long as you have regulatory clarity and stability, you can underwrite a deal," LaBar said.
Taken together, the panelists' perspectives underscore a market where no single strategy dominates. Instead, investors are tailoring their approaches to highly specific local conditions, with success increasingly tied to how well they navigate the nuances of each market.
Check back with GlobeSt.com for more from this panel and event.
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