NAA: ROAD Act steers institutional capital to build-to-rent
The apartment trade group's research chief says the new federal housing law points institutions toward new supply.
Private capital has spent years absorbing political blame for high home prices. The National Apartment Association argues the new federal housing law gives that money a politically safer destination. In an IREI interview, George Ratiu, the association's vice president of research, said institutional investors view the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act as a signal that policymakers are targeting supply. The law, he said, pushes capital toward strategies that expand the stock, build-to-rent chief among them.
The repositioning answers a specific criticism. Affordability complaints and political attacks have centered on large investors competing with households for existing homes. Ratiu's case for build-to-rent: capital that stops absorbing existing houses and instead funds new rental communities adds supply without competing for ordinary buyers.
He does not downplay the math. Higher interest rates, construction costs and broader macroeconomic volatility all shape investor strategy, he said. Build-to-rent only adds supply where the numbers close.
Looking ahead, the interview weighs what could drive build-to-rent's next phase of growth. The ROAD Act marks a policy shift; whether capital moves will be a test of the law's pull against construction costs.
The Wrap