CHC continues to see opportunity within the multifamily space driven by a shortage of affordable housing and elevated home mortgage rates. While the sector has faced recent headwinds due in part to elevated deliveries that pushed occupancy rates down to 91.9%, below the 10-year average of 93.5% (Costar Q4 2024), tenant demand in 2024 was strong enough to offset much of the new supply. For the year ending Q4 2024, 550,800 units were absorbed, well above the average of 346,800 units (Costar Q4 2024). Notably, new construction starts have declined nearly 60% since their peak in 2022 (U.S. Census Bureau, January 2025). During the same period, U.S. households grew by only 782,000, or 0.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, January 2025). Meanwhile, the cost disparity between homeownership and renting has widened to $1,210, representing a 2.8% year-over-year increase and creating another demand tailwind for rental demand (Newmark, Q1 2025).

Similarly, with the backdrop of high homeownership costs nationwide, CHC believes manufactured housing provides a necessary option for growing segments of the population.

There has been negligible new supply and strong demand growth in this sector (The Council of State Governments –2024). Today, more than 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes, a figure CHC expects to increase as aging demographics drive greater demand for accessible, affordable housing (The Pew Charitable Trusts, March 2025). Manufactured home shipments have increased by more than 25% since 2016 (Manufactured Housing Institute, February 2025 Monthly Economic Report). Investment activity for manufactured housing communities has followed suit, with sales volume rising 33% from 2020 to 2024 compared to the prior five-year period (2015-2019) (MSCI, Real Capital Analytics, Q1 2025). The sector also remains highly fragmented, with 60% of the existing stock owned by local owner-operators (CoStar, Q1 2025).

 The student housing sector continues to demonstrate its resilience. While year-over-year rent growth is beginning to moderate from record-setting highs, it remains healthy – reaching 3.6% as of August 2024, well above typical pre-pandemic levels of approximately 2% annually (Yardi Matrix, February 2025). Preleasing activity in 2025 also remains strong, with 54.6% of beds preleased compared to 48.2% at the same time last year (Yardi Matrix, February 2025). CHC believes universities are central to America’s economic health and often function as engines for the growth in surrounding communities and metropolitan areas. Most of the growth in the student housing market is projected to take place at four‐year public universities, which have historically seen the most consistent and reliable enrollment trends across institution types (2024 Berkadia U.S. Student Housing Market Report). Applications to public universities and colleges outpaced private institutions by 8%, with the fastest geographical growth occurring in the Southwest region at 34% (CommonApp, March 2025).