2020 will be a year that is talked about for gen­er­a­tions to come. It has become appar­ent that every indus­try has been affect­ed and is not immune to COVID-19.
We col­lect­ed some top trends for the mul­ti­fam­i­ly mar­ket that will like­ly be longer last­ing than a tra­di­tion­al span. The extend­ed arti­cles can be found online in the loca­tion below in the footnotes.

These 8 trends can be found in more detail on 2nd Kitchen’s web­site.

1. COVID-19’s Impact
   a. Tem­po­rary sus­pen­sion of evic­tions due to the inabil­i­ty to
   pay rent.
   b. The num­ber of renters that paid rent dropped 12% from
   March to April 2020.
   c. 56% of renters say they are look­ing for new units – mainly
   fueled by the need for a larg­er unit.
   d. Only 17% of renters said they will stay at their current
   rental unit.
   e. 45% of new mul­ti­fam­i­ly hous­ing projects in development
   have been halted.
   f. Increase clean­ing sched­ules and new sanitization
   procedures.
   g. New pro­ce­dures for food deliv­ery and mailrooms.
2. Vir­tu­al Tours & Self-Guid­ed Showings
3. Mul­ti­fam­i­ly Renters Expect Lux­u­ry Amenities
4. Growth of Sub­ur­ban Sun-Belt Mul­ti­fam­i­ly Rental Market
5. Con­tin­ued High-Occu­pan­cy Levels
6. New Mul­ti­fam­i­ly Build­ing Con­struc­tion Projects
7. Diver­si­ty & Inclu­sion­Ris­ing Rents, Rent-Cap Laws, and Rent Moratoriums

Addi­tion­al Changes From COVID-19 Predicted
In an arti­cle post­ed on Mul­ti­fam­i­ly Exec­u­tive, Kim­ber­ly Byrum reviews pos­i­tive signs and trends for the mul­ti­fam­i­ly sec­tor. Byrum, states “…she expects touch­less fea­tures will be even more impor­tant, such as auto­mat­ic doors, key­less entry options, and even voice-con­trolled ele­va­tors. She also expects more empha­sis on hand-wash­ing sta­tions, ven­ti­la­tion, open lay­outs, and more seat­ing.” She goes on to say in the arti­cle that work from home will not be a blip on the radar – this is some­thing where she sug­gests devel­op­ers could offer a pre­mi­um apart­ment with addi­tion­al space ded­i­cat­ed to a work­space cub­by. In addi­tion to those changes that are like­ly here to stay for some time – fit­ness spaces in their homes as well as pri­vate work­out suites, and find­ing ways to incor­po­rate out­door liv­ing spaces will become an even big­ger priority

Addi­tion­al Infor­ma­tion Can Be Found:
1. 2nd Kitchen
2. Mul­ti­fam­i­ly Exec­u­tive Article