REAL ESTATE NEWS

Multifamily investors looking for their next acquisition may find the best opening in an owner's need to sell—not a marketwide collapse in pricing. Lenders are putting more pressure on borrowers, and some sellers are becoming more realistic about values. But owners who can afford to wait are still holding out, leaving buyers to sort through individual opportunities rather than prepare for a broad buying spree.

That divide between owners who can hold and those who must transact is shaping the investment market, according to executives speaking Wednesday at the GlobeSt. Multifamily Owners Forum 2026 in San Diego. With borrowing costs still weighing on deals, a seller's financial flexibility can matter as much as market expectations in negotiations.

The panel, "A View from the Top: Multifamily State of the Industry," brought together executives from Hamilton Zanze, Virtu Investments and StarPoint Properties. Moderated by John Sebree, senior managing director and head of real estate investment sales at Lument, the discussion pointed to a market where pressure to sell is building without necessarily producing widespread bargains.

Lender Pressure Puts Sellers On The Clock

Owners waiting for lower interest rates are facing a less accommodating lending environment. One panelist said pressure on owners to sell had increased over the past six to nine months, potentially opening more doors for buyers as lenders push borrowers toward transactions.

Asked by Sebree which side needed to move further on pricing to get deals done, the panelist put the responsibility on sellers.

Yet not every owner faces the same deadline. Refinancing needs, lender pressure and other financial constraints can narrow a seller's options. Owners without those pressures have more room to reject offers and wait for conditions to improve.

For buyers, that distinction helps explain why growing sector pressure hasn't translated into a uniform reset in asking prices.

Financial Flexibility Shapes Negotiations

"Both sides are playing a waiting game now," said Ritesh Patel, chief investment officer at Virtu Investments.

The balance of negotiating power depends largely on who has the financial capacity—and patience—to keep waiting. Sellers who can hold their properties longer may be able to wait for better conditions. Those facing immediate financing challenges have less flexibility.

Kurt Houtkooper, CEO of Hamilton Zanze, said sellers are increasingly accepting current asset values, although some continue to resist lower offers.

He said owners repeatedly postpone sales in hopes that a more favorable market, or major political events, will improve pricing. Buyers, meanwhile, keep asking why they should pay more when current conditions support lower valuations.

"If I don't need to sell, I am not going to sell," Houtkooper said.

That ability to walk away remains a central obstacle to transactions. A buyer may see a case for a lower price, but an owner with no immediate reason to sell can simply decline.

A Broad Buying Opportunity Remains Elusive

The pricing standoff also raises a larger question for investors: Is multifamily settling into a new normal, or is the market still waiting for its next turn?

Sebree posed that question to the panel, bringing the discussion back to acquisition timing and whether investors should accept current conditions or wait for a more favorable environment.

Paul Daneshrad, CEO of StarPoint Properties, cautioned against expecting a dramatic buying opportunity in the near term.

He said previous periods of strong multifamily acquisition activity benefited from declining interest rates and the momentum those declines created. He does not see comparable conditions developing today or in the immediate future.

Rising pressure on some owners, in other words, does not necessarily signal that the entire market is approaching a major buying window.

Selectivity Matters More Than A Marketwide Bet

Daneshrad distinguished between finding an attractive property and expecting a wave of exceptional deals.

"Could there be good opportunities if you are selective, yes," he said. "But tremendous, no."

That distinction puts the focus on individual transactions: an owner's financial circumstances, a property's fundamentals and whether the price supports the buyer's return requirements.

For multifamily investors, the next round of acquisitions may depend less on a sweeping market repricing than on finding sellers whose need to transact brings expectations within reach. Lender pressure could create more of those openings. Owners with the resources to wait, however, still have little incentive to meet buyers on price.

Source: GlobeSt/ALM