Amid Rising Popularity of Single-Family Rental and Build-for-Rent Assets, Walker & Dunlop Launches Dedicated Practice Group

The rapidly growing SFR market is estimated at $3.4 trillion, compared to the $3.5 trillion multifamily market

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it has formed a dedicated team to address the rapidly expanding Single-Family Rental (SFR) and Build-for-Rent (BFR) market. While demand has steadily increased over the past several years, migration patterns related to COVID-19 have accelerated the popularity of SFR and BFR properties. An increasing number of investors are therefore expanding their strategy to include the product, and the BFR sub-segment is playing an emerging role in large scale investors’ portfolios.

The SFR market is estimated at $3.4 trillion, compared to $3.5 trillion for the multifamily market,¹  and growth of this asset class is expected to outpace multifamily, office, retail, storage, and hospitality growth within the next few years. BFR properties, a sub-segment of the SFR market, are purpose-built housing to be operated as single-family rental investments. This increasingly popular concept within the multifamily industry currently makes up as much as ten percent of new homes built. While a relatively new product among investors, national homebuilders, and developers, BFR has become more popular to investors, including traditional multifamily developers. The rapidly growing BFR market is expected to continue expanding, as more residents prefer to rent single-family homes with yards and upscale amenities on a long-term basis.

Walker & Dunlop’s specialty practice group comprises 13 experts strategically positioned throughout the business to finance and sell SFR and BFR communities across the United States. The national team is led by Cliff Carnes, Senior Vice President and Capital Markets Western Region Chief Production Officer, Ted Patch, Chief Production Officer of the company’s Multifamily Finance group, and Kris Mikkelsen, Executive Vice President of Investment Sales. 

Carnes commented, “The SFR/BFR space will be a very significant part of the rental market’s growth for years to come. Conventional multifamily properties alone cannot keep pace with demand for housing as the number of renters in the U.S. grows. With market demand continuing to outpace supply, the SFR and BFR space will continue to attract renters, developers, owners, and investment dollars.”

Walker & Dunlop’s dedicated SFR & BFR Practice Group provides expert guidance on construction, bridge lending, permanent financing, structuring equity, and property sales to generate optimal returns and strategic relationships for clients. The team has closed and raised capital for over $872M in this burgeoning sector, has an active pipeline of $1.4 billion, and is active with over fifty groups in the space, ranging from institutional clients, homebuilders, multifamily developers, and individual investors.

To learn more about Walker & Dunlop’s view on the BFR market, including information on lending, capital brokerage, or investment sales opportunities, download our whitepaper.

About Walker & Dunlop
Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine’s Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop’s 1,000+ professionals in 41 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.

¹Magnify Capital