COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE'S ECONOMIC ADVISORS

CPI is the last major data release before the FOMC convenes on September 15–16, amid increasingly hawkish projections for its upcoming interest rate decision.

This week’s Rental Housing Weekly Briefing examines the August jobs report, where stronger-than-expected payroll growth and upward revisions to prior months improved the near-term employment picture but reinforced upward pressure on interest rates, alongside a new Chandan Economics–Arbor Realty Trust analysis showing that build-to-rent construction remains elevated despite moderating from its 2024 peak.

August’s stronger-than-expected job gains, on top of the June and July revisions, give hawks additional fodder for the September meeting.

This week’s Rental Housing Weekly Briefing examines the latest Chandan Economics–RentRedi data showing continued stabilization in mom-and-pop rent collections, with on-time payments improving in August and year-over-year performance strengthening, alongside new Trepp analysis showing that multifamily expense growth cooled in 2025 even as revenue and NOI growth also slowed.

The August 2026 Independent Landlord Rental Performance Report from Chandan Economics and RentRedi shows further signs of stabilization across independently operated rental properties. On-time payments improved to 83.2%, year-over-year performance strengthened materially, and multifamily properties drove much of the monthly rebound.

This week’s Rental Housing Weekly Briefing examines Chandan Economics’ latest Multifamily Rent Growth Update, where annual and short-term rent growth both accelerated in July and a larger share of US metro areas recorded rising rents, alongside new Census data showing that multifamily housing starts remained volatile even as the underlying development trend held relatively firm.

US multifamily rent growth accelerated again in July, with annual growth reaching 1.8%, monthly annualized growth rising to 4.0%, and market breadth improving further.

This week’s Rental Housing Weekly Briefing examines Yardi Matrix’s latest supply forecast, which projects multifamily completions falling to a 2027 low before stabilizing, alongside the Q3 2026 Arbor–Chandan Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report, where lending remains healthy even as narrow yield spreads continue to constrain pricing.

Despite CPI registering in line with expectations, futures market forecasts for the Fed's September interest rate decision moved meaningfully following the release.