National + Apartments | March 18, 2021

Apartment demand is expected to continue outpacing supply

Cross-Border Investment in U.S. Multifamily Recovers in 2020’s Second Half

International investors bought $5.7 billion of U.S. multifamily assets in 2020’s second half, just 5% below the year-ago period, CBRE reported. The sector’s strength—it commanded the largest share of overall investment since 2001—prevailed despite international travel restrictions and heightened market uncertainty.

For the full year, the impact of the pandemic on cross-border investment was felt more acutely. International investment in U.S. multifamily assets fell by 22% to $9.7 billion. “Considerably lower hedging costs made global capital more competitive, helping to mitigate the decline from 2019 levels,” according to CBRE’s Richard Barkham, Spencer Levy and Jeanette Rice.

Canada, the perennial leader in U.S. inbound multifamily capital, accounted for 64.1% of international U.S. multifamily investment in H2. The U.K., Switzerland, Germany, Bahrain, South Korea and Japan were distant followers.

For 2021, CBRE expects overseas investment in multifamily to pick up, especially in the year’s second half. “Strengthening market fundamentals and an easing of international travel” will be drivers.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).