MF Not Overbuilding Yet, But Projects May Change

ORLANDO—Multifamily construction is at a high in most markets and, despite tepid economic growth and questions about the pace of continued wage expansion, investors and developers are bullish about apartments in most markets. At least, that’s what the participants in the development panel “Are We Overbuilding, or Building the Right Stuff?” had to say during the 2016 NMHC Apartment Strategies Outlook Conference, held here Tuesday.

Session moderator Jay Denton, SVP of analytics for Axiometrics, opened up the discussion with an examination of the development that’s under way—and who’s behind it. Denton counted 537,904 units currently under construction across the US as of mid-January. Top 50 developers, meanwhile, account for just a fraction of that, 160,804 units.