What Investors Need to Know About the National Multifamily Housing Council
The National Multifamily Housing Council or NMHC is the largest advocacy group for the multifamily industry in the United States. The NMHC advocates for the apartment industry by:
Publishing Annual Policy Objectives: The NMHC publishes a series of annual policy objectives for the industry, with a particular focus on affordable housing and regulatory policy.
Donating to Political Candidates: The NHMC, through its PAC, provides financial support for political candidates who support the NMHCs objectives.
Conducting Affordable Housing Policy Research: The NMHC policies that may be able to increase America’s affordable housing supply.
Publishing Top Industry Lists: The NHMC publishes top 25 and top 50 lists for major players in the apartment industry, including the top apartment management companies, top multifamily syndicators, top multifamily law firms, top market-rate, and affordable housing developers, and top builders, among other top players.
Providing Networking Opportunities: The NHMC provides a variety of in-person and virtual networking events for investors, syndicators, financers, and other players in the industry.
As a non-profit trade and advocacy group, membership in the NMHC is available for both individuals and organizations. Membership, while expensive, may be a good choice for some individuals and groups, particularly if they are institutional players or attempting to become institutional players via rapid industry expansion. In this article, we’ll review some of the objectives of the NMHC and attempt to help you determine whether membership is a good choice for you or your organization.
What are the Public Policy Objectives of the NMHC?
Housing affordability and regulatory reform are two of the most pressing issues in the industry that the NMHC has been advocating for. This includes:
HUD Section 8 Revitalization: The NMHC wants the federal government to revitalize the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to allow private housing developers to expand their affordable housing options across the country.
National Flood Insurance Program Reform: The NHMC encourages the federal government to revitalize and reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), to increase coverage options for the apartment industry. It also wants more coverage for other contingencies, such as property liability, cyberattacks, and future pandemics.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Multifamily Expansion: The NMHC wants to continue federal government support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac multifamily to continue aggressive capital financing options for the multifamily industry in the form of continued multifamily mortgage purchases and securitizations through Ginnie Mae and other relevant GSEs and government organizations.
Broadband Deployment: The NMHC wants the federal government to provide broadband and digital support for multifamily housing operators.
Tax Policy Objectives: The NMHC vehemently supports the continuation and expansion of tax benefits for the multifamily industry. This could come in the form of the maintenance or expansion of the 1031 exchange program, mortgage tax deductions, lower capital gains taxes, and other tax breaks for multifamily owners and operators.
Immigration Policy Objectives: The NMHC wants to ensure that immigration is open to skilled laborers in order to increase the supply of qualified construction laborers, reducing labor prices encourage a higher volume of multifamily development at reasonable costs to developers
Increasing Federal Housing Affordability Incentives: The NMHC wants the federal government to provide strong incentives for local governments to reduce cumbersome regulations for affordable housing developers, such as rent control regulations and overly burdensome safety and health regulations, which may have little real impact on the safety and qualify of life of multifamily residents, particularly in affordable housing communities.
Streamline Federal Data Privacy Regulations: The NMHC wants to encourage new federal data security, privacy, and breach notification legislation that makes it easier for apartment operators to follow one standard, rather than sift through a variety of confusing state laws and regulations.
The NMHC and the COVID-19 Housing Crisis
In addition to its general policy goals, the NMHC is also pressing for a variety of new reforms related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, the NHMC wants to focus on issues including:
Federal Eviction Moratoriums: The NHMC vehemently opposes the utilization of federal eviction moratoriums which it believes is not effective in addressing renter’s long-term financial problems. It also believes these moratoriums disrupt overall industry supply and demand and put undue pressure on multifamily operators, reducing overall housing industry stability.
Ensure the Efficiency of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program: The NMHC wants the federal government to carefully and quickly implement the $50 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program and provide additional monetary assistance for past-due renters, which can help ensure the continued survival of multifamily operators, many who have faced serious financial hardships during the pandemic.
Enact Liability Protections for Housing Providers: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed multifamily operators to a massive amount of liability, even if they follow all applicable public health regulations and guidelines. The NHMC wants the federal government to provide additional liability protections to prevent frivolous lawsuits that could put additional burdens on multifamily operators who may already be punished by eviction moratoriums.
The NMHC Provides Political Donations Through the NHMC Political Action Committee (PAC)
The NHMC PAC is the political action committee for the NHMC, which directly meets with U.S. Senators and Representatives to help influence policy for the multifamily and apartment industry. The PAC has a strong emphasis on advocating for affordable housing issues and related policy on the federal level.
NMHC Research Provides Valuable Insights for Multifamily Operators
The NHMC provides a variety of quarterly and annual research reports for those interesting in up-to-date data about the multifamily industry, including:
Quick Facts: NHMC Quick Facts provides a variety of apartment industry demographics, including market conditions, construction stats, sector KPIs, industry investment returns, and much, much more, including:
U.S. Household Characteristics
U.S. Household Incomes
Renters and Owners
Value of Apartment Stock
Total Annual Returns
Total Annual REIT Returns
Prices and Annual Rents for Apartment Properties
Rental Apartment Vacancy Rate (5+Units)
Absorption Rates
NMHC Top 50: The NHMC Top 50 list provides information on the 50 Apartment Owners and Top 50 Managers as well as the Top 25 Developers, Top 25 Builders, and Top 10 Syndicators.
NHMC Rental Payment Tracker: Tracks rental payments across the United States. This service will be discontinued as of Dec. 2021.
Industry Benchmarks: The NHMC industry benchmarks report provides essential industry data, including:
NOI as a Percentage of Revenue
In-Place Rent Per Square Foot
YOY Change in Revenue (per available square foot)
YOY Change in Executed Rent
Rent Change - Renewals
Renewal Conversion Rate
Student Housing Industry Benchmarks: Provides the same data as the NMHC industry benchmarks report, with a specific focus on the student housing industry.
Quarterly Survey: The NMHC Quarterly survey provides up-to-date data on the apartment market, including sales, debt, and equity financing. It specifically tracks the overall availability of debt and equity financing for market participants using an innovative ranking system. New results are published approximately every 90 days.
Market Trends Newsletter: This is a quarterly newsletter prepared by NHMC staff that shows statistics including rent increases, vacancy rates, apartment starts, employment growth, and apartment sales prices.
Research Notes Newsletter: Provides unique insights on various trends impacting the industry, such as overall demographics, trends in financing and ownership, and broader economic trends that may impact the multifamily industry.
NMHC/Grace Hill Renter Preferences Survey Report: This report is designed to focus on the preferences of apartment renters, including data such as:
Apartment Search Data
Lease Decision Factors
Pricing Expectations
Apartment Features
Resident Demographics and Psychographics
Community Amenities
Touring Preferences
Online services
Connectivity needs
High-Frequency COVID-19 Economic Impact Data: This is a data set exclusive to NHMC members, which includes statistical data on subjects including consumer sentiment, unemployment claims, travel and mobility data, restaurant reservations, college re-openings, and, much, much more.
What are the Benefits of Joining the NHMC?
By joining the NHMC, members have behind-the-scenes access to the NHMC PAC (political action committee). They also are granted access to the NHMCs three major annual meetings, including:
The Annual Meeting in January: The largest meeting, open to all members.
The Spring Board of Directors Meeting: An exclusive annual meeting of apartment industry CEOs and senior executives from the Executive Committee and Board of Directors’ member firms.
The Fall Meeting: Open to all members, this meeting is focused on highlighting apartment industry issues while providing a roundtable discussion for innovative ideas about the industry.
What are the NHMC Membership Levels?
The NMHC current offers three levels of membership including:
Executive Committee (by invitation only): $20,000
Board of Directors: $15,000 (Introductory First Year - $10,000)
Advisory Committee: $5,000
Each membership level offers access to most meetings, professional development opportunities, listing in the NHMC directory, and two mailing opportunities, among a variety of other benefits. Higher levels of membership provide more VIP meeting opportunities and greater access to exclusive services.
For larger firms and institutions, the NHMC also offers sponsorship opportunities, which generally range between $15,000 and $50,000 per year.
Is NHMC Membership Right for You or Your Organization?
NHMC membership is expensive, and it isn’t right for everyone. In most cases, NHMC membership is only worth it for experienced or institutional investors, brokers, capital markets advisors, law firms, and other large companies who hope to expand their network and influence national policies. For smaller firms and beginning investors, the membership is likely not as helpful or impactful, particularly for the price. However, this doesn’t mean the NHMC isn’t a valuable resource for information. Smaller investors can, and probably should, read the NHMC’s free reports, and may wish to subscribe to some of their paid reports in order to get the most up-to-date information about the multifamily and apartment industry.