Small Multifamily Weathers the Storm Arbor Realty Trust and Chandan Economics have published the Q2 2020 Small Multifamily Investment Trends Report. Key findings include: Small multifamily asset prices declined 5.6 percent from a year ago; Cap rates held steady even as risk-free yields declined; Leverage declined as lenders tightened underwriting standards. Multifamily financing conditions remain more robust than for other core sectors, including office, retail, and hotel. For the full report, visit Arbor Chatter at the Arbor Realty Trust website.

Shifting Household Preferences and Economic Disruptions Support Single-Family Rental Outlook Arbor Realty Trust and Chandan Economics have published the Q2 2020 Single-Family Rental Investment Trends Report. Key findings of the report include: Cap rates for single-family rental properties increased five basis points from the first to the second quarter, inching up to 6.7%; Occupancy rates increased 100 basis points from the first to the second quarter, rising to 95.3 percent; Shifts in household location preferences, both demographic and pandemic-related, will support the resilience of the sector. For the the full report, visit Arbor Chatter at the Arbor Realty Trust website.

Sam Chandan, Silverstein Chair at the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate and Chairman of Chandan Economics, writes in Forbes: The historic increase in joblessness brought on by the pandemic has pushed us to the brink of a new rental crisis, forestalled in the short term by a combination of payroll protections, enhanced unemployment benefits, rent subsidies, and a national patchwork of eviction moratoria. The most far-reaching of these programs, a moratorium on evictions at properties with federally backed mortgages and the $600 per week unemployment benefits supplement, have now expired. Communities of color are particularly at risk without these reinforcements, impacted disproportionately by the pandemic and job losses and with more limited savings. For the full column, visit the Forbes website.

Mitch Roschelle, Co-Publisher and Co-Chair of the ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate report and Partner at PwC and Co-Chair of the firm's Real Estate Practice, joins Sam Chandan to discuss conditions in the commercial real estate market, the outlook for retail and office space demand, the competitive position of core urban areas in a post-pandemic world, and the persistence of historically low interest rates. For over 40 years, the Emerging Trends in Real Estate report has been amongst the most respected and widely read global surveys of real estate industry leader sentiment and expectations. According to ULI, the report "includes interviews and survey responses from more than 2,200 leading real estate experts, including investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers, advisers and consultants." Listen to this episode of the Urban Lab on Apple Podcasts. The most recent Emerging Trends in Real Estate report is available for download from the Urban Land Institute website.

To combat the public health and economic fallouts from COVID-19, the federal government passed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27. Provisions of the Act include support for healthcare, individuals, and businesses through direct payments, loans, and tax relief measures. The Act's Economic Impact Payments, often referred to as stimulus checks, and enhanced unemployment benefits, have been critical to the stability of the apartment market and for income-constrained families in particular. For the full analysis, Arbor Chatter at the Arbor Realty Trust website.