Donald Trump's win last week in his bid to become president of the United States shocked much of the nation, and the impact has been rolling out across America for the past week.
Housing in general was never a central policy that came up in either candidate's campaign this year, but now that President-elect Trump is set to assume the office in January, it's time to ask how he, and a Republican-controlled Congress, will affect the apartment industry.
We asked a few multifamily executives to share their thoughts on how they think the new administration will affect their businesses in both the near and long terms. Add your own thoughts below, in the "Join the Discussion" section.
Industry Reactions
"The election results didn't surprise me. The educated political elite didn't listen to the many who wanted change and haven't had a pay raise in 10 years or longer. What is surprising is that so many people were surprised! Maybe this is the wake-up call the nation needs. The new administration should be good for housing. Less regulation, infrastructure investment, and a growth platform are all good. Everyone will always need a place to live. Initially, the election is bad for apartment stocks due to interest-rate spikes and stock price volatility. Longer term, it will be good for the sector." —Ric Campo, CEO, Camden Property Trust
"I think everyone was surprised by the election results; it appears the country is looking for real change from the current trajectory. We shall see how an outsider can govern, and [whether he] can work with and through the existing Washington infrastructure. It will be interesting to observe. If the new administration will help promote a positive environment for job growth, then it will help all housing sectors. It will be relatively agnostic to the apartment sector; however, rising interest rates will make a single-family recovery more difficult, taking into account mortgage affordability and availability." —Bruce Ward, CEO, Alliance
"I just hope this election won't undo all the good work we've done digging out of the Great Recession, addressing global climate change, and getting unemployment down to its lowest rates in over a decade. Construction lending is up, and interest rates are at all-time lows. I just don't want to see all this good work go away at a drop of a hat." —Anthony Maschmedt, principal, Dwell Design and Development
"It's been a long time since the Republicans or any one party has controlled anything. I think there's a pent-up demand for quite a bit of legislation. We’ve been through six years of gridlock without any major legislation ... I think, for the same reasons, that will cause interest rates to go up, which they already have. I think there are more inflationary expectations because of that. Higher interest rates can be a negative as far as valuations and borrowing costs ... On a different note, [Trump] is anti-regulation. He wants to roll back Dodd-Frank, which could loosen up lending and allow for more development. You could have some fluctuation on valuations. Maybe you have cap-rate expansion because borrowing costs go up. If borrowing costs go up and you have a lot of supply and flat rents or declining rents in some markets, particularly in Class A product, that could hurt valuations in the short term. It’s good for the long term. When you have unknown policies and rising interest rates in a period where there’s quite a bit of supply, I think what you get is volatility in values, which we haven’t seen in six or seven years." —David Schwartz, CEO, Waterton
