Multifamily to remain resilient to effects of COVID?

[Ryan Daigle]

According to JLL:

I tend to agree, though it's hard to generalize across all of multifamily since there are so many different types and classes. The report goes on to say that occupation density will be a factor for investors (logical given that proximity is such a contributor to COVID contagion). So those urban core assets where elevators and other enclosed and high-density spaces are prevalent might make some uncomfortable and result in less demand.

I'm actually optimistic about COVID _not_ affecting the decades long trend of population migration to urban cores, but maybe I'm being naive. Do you think high-rise multifamily will be negatively affected by COVID long term? Would you move money from urban core to suburban garden style multifamily as a result?

[Joseph Cacciapaglia]

I expect multifamily in some of the densest cities to see some softness. I think this will be partly because people will move to the suburbs, but also because they'll be moving to lower priced cities. The workforce just became a whole lot more mobile. I already know of a few people planning to leave places NYC, Philly, and D.C. to come to San Antonio. Now that they can take their jobs with them, cutting their housing costs in half (or more) while still having a decent little downtown nearby has become a lot more appealing. I'm guessing that many less dense and more affordable cities will benefit from this whole situation.