Connect CRE’s 2026 Multifamily Leadership Series turns to the apartment market, highlighting perspectives from 18 senior executives across the sector. The series opens with insights from Brenda Barrett, CEO of Salt Lake City-based Apartment Management Consultants, which placed fifth on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s 2026 Top 50 Property Managers ranking.
Barrett notes that higher gas prices and broader inflation are feeding directly into the development cost stack. Rising fuel costs raise transportation and contractor expenses, while inflation drives up prices for building materials. Together, these forces increase overall construction costs and put additional pressure on budgets for new multifamily projects, requiring developers to build in wider contingencies and address the risk of cost escalation.
On demand metrics, Barrett observes that the apartment sector is still digesting a wave of new supply that began delivering a couple of years ago. Since then, the pace of new construction starts has slowed, allowing the market more room to absorb recently completed units. That supply-side moderation is helping, but it is not the only factor. With homeownership remaining out of financial reach for many households, more renters are staying in apartments longer, supporting continued demand for rental housing.
Barrett characterizes rent trends as broadly flat, with notable variation by market. Some locations have registered negative rent growth in recent years, while others have eked out modest gains. She sees preliminary signs of stabilization, but points out that the earlier surge of new deliveries is still weighing on performance because a significant portion of those units has yet to be fully leased. Until that inventory is absorbed, it will continue to restrain rent growth in many areas.
Affordability remains a central concern, particularly for lower-income households. Barrett cites research showing that renters, and especially those earning less, are directing an increasing share of their income to rent and utilities in all 50 states. Wage growth has not kept pace with inflation or rent increases over an extended period, and the supply of affordable rental units is insufficient in every state. She notes that building more affordable stock is difficult due to high labor and construction costs, limited incentives, and local resistance to new development.
Barrett argues that addressing affordability will require a combination of public- and private-sector responses. Potential components include tax and development incentives, supportive legislation for affordable housing, and more accessible financing targeted to this segment. She views it as a complex, multi-faceted challenge rather than a problem with a single policy fix. Even so, she takes some encouragement from the growing attention the issue is receiving from industry participants, policymakers, and renters, suggesting that broader awareness could help build momentum around practical solutions.
Reflecting on her own career, Barrett says she would retain the same strong work ethic that helped create advancement opportunities. However, she would advise her younger self to invest earlier and more intentionally in professional relationships. In her view, long-term success in multifamily is shaped not only by the properties one builds or manages, but also by the depth and durability of relationships with peers and trusted vendors. Those partnerships, she notes, are often critical in solving problems and executing effectively.
