Articles from National Multifamily Housing Council

A new follow-up study conducted by economists from MetroSight—sponsored by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA)—shows that some housing regulations increase the cost of rent, particularly for lower-income renters and those renting from small multifamily properties. This report importantly builds on findings released earlier this year, revealing that overregulation can increase operating costs.

New research conducted by economists from MetroSight – sponsored by the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) – reveals that overregulation could negatively impact rental housing affordability by increasing operating costs and are expected to discourage new construction, increasing the cost of housing and limiting its accessibility and availability for Americans.

Housing affordability is a critical issue in communities across the country. Local tax incentives to spur new housing development generate significant numbers of places for people to live and, at the same time, create additional long-term revenue for municipalities to support community services.

Today, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the Real Estate Technology and Transformation Center (RETTC) applauded Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr for withdrawing a recent proposal to restrict high-speed internet bulk-billing agreements. His decision to withdraw the proposal will ensure that millions of consumers – renters, homeowners and condominium owners – will continue to reap the benefits of bulk billing.

The following is an analysis authored by Caitlin Sugrue Walter, Ph.D.:

This afternoon the Washington Post reported that President Biden will tomorrow announce a new proposal to cap rents nationally. This campaign season rhetoric will do nothing to lower housing costs or broaden housing opportunity. Indeed, instituting national rent control will drive up housing costs and limit the building of new and badly needed housing at the same time communities across the nation are facing a housing affordability crisis.

A new survey published by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) confirms that building codes can raise concerns about construction costs and make it increasingly difficult to develop much needed housing. Nearly 9 in 10 (89%) respondents agreed or strongly agreed that building code requirements in general impact the cost and viability of construction projects. While some of these requirements are necessary to protect the health and safety of residents as well as the integrity of the building or community, it is important to understand the financial impact of imposing each type—particularly in an era of widespread cost increases and worsening affordability problems for renters.

A broad coalition of groups representing America’s housing providers, lenders and residents sent members of Congress and the Biden administration a letter outlining a number of bipartisan policies they can undertake that will expand housing supply while lowering costs as they improve housing equity and opportunity.

Despite facing significant challenges in 2023, including tightening monetary policy, the U.S. apartment market is showing signs of resilience as demand is expected to remain strong over the long term.

Results from a groundbreaking new survey of rental housing providers have revealed staggering increases of fraud, contributing to both the growth in rents and number of evictions. A vast majority of respondents (70.7%) reported experiencing an increase in fraudulent applications and payments, utilizing fraudulent documentation, financial statements and even identities in the past twelve months.

As communities across the nation continue to face real housing affordability challenges, too many lawmakers are considering policies to regulate rents instead of those that will increase the supply of housing and, therefore, enhance equity and lower housing costs for residents.

Once again, it is clear that there is widespread agreement on the need to proactively put forward policy solutions that will lower the cost of housing, increase the number of available homes, and broaden housing equity and opportunity.

The 2024 Renter Preferences Survey Report released today by NMHC and Grace Hill provides a comprehensive look at the home features and community amenities that are most important to renters, how much they are willing to pay for them and what are their biggest considerations during their home search. The report features input from 172,703 renters living in 4,220 communities nationwide, with data available in 77 markets.

Today, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) launched the Foundations for Rental Housing—a groundbreaking effort aimed to support residents as they build their lives in rental communities. The announcement follows a meeting today between NMHC leaders and the White House to discuss how housing providers can better implement resident-centered housing management practices.

A recent letter from 32 economists purported to show empirical evidence that rent control is a net positive. These economists come from a variety of disciplines, including political economists and labor economists, but the majority appear to have limited to no experience as housing economists. The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) wholeheartedly agrees that millions of households in this country face a housing affordability crisis, but we cannot let disinformation feed false narratives about decades of fact-based evidence of the negative policy consequences of rent regulations.

Apartment market conditions continued to weaken in the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC’s) Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions for July 2023, as the Market Tightness (26), Sales Volume (40), Equity Financing (22) and Debt Financing (18) indexes all came in well below the breakeven level (50).

Today, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) published the 2023 State of Multifamily Risk Survey and Report – a comprehensive review of today’s insurance market and risk mitigation strategies that multifamily businesses need to understand and consider.

The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association (NAA) applaud news of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA that has narrowed federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.

Sam Zell was a giant in the multifamily industry, a founder of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and a dear friend and supporter of the organization. He will be deeply missed by many.

The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) has released a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Toolkit that provides enterprise-level guidance and resources to companies that want to create more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.

The nation's housing supply imbalance and related affordability issues top the list of 2023 apartment industry policy priorities released today by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association (NAA).

Tax policy is a critical tool that can be used to address the nation’s housing affordability crisis. National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) President Sharon Wilson Géno delivered that message to the Senate Finance Committee today in testimony on behalf of NMHC and the National Apartment Association (NAA).

Today, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) joined an industry-wide group of seven real estate trade associations to announce a first-of-its-kind alliance to foster supplier diversity in the real estate industry. The Commercial Real Estate Diverse Supplier (CREDS) Consortium aims to expand economic opportunity for minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) and further diversify industry supply chains.

The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) has worked in good faith with the Administration on its Resident-Centered Housing Challenge and is pleased to join that challenge. While they have rejected calls for failed policies such as national rent control, we are disappointed they are pursuing potentially duplicative and onerous regulations that are already appropriately addressed under state and local law. These efforts will do nothing to address the nation’s housing shortage and could discourage much-needed investments in housing. We continue to urge the Administration to prioritize enacting the Housing Supply Action Plan they issued in May. The best renter protection is an abundant supply of housing.

The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) today named Sharon Wilson Géno, a 30-year veteran of the housing industry, as the organization’s President-Elect effective October 11. Wilson Géno will assume the role of President from Doug Bibby at NMHC’s Annual Meeting in January 2023, when he officially steps down after more than 20 years of leading the organization. Until then, he will work closely with Wilson Géno to ensure a seamless transition.

Amidst demographic shifts and lingering pandemic impacts on the population and broader economy, the U.S. faces a pressing need to build 4.3 million new apartments by 2035, according to a new study commissioned by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA).