How `Bad' is Renter Protection for Institutional Investment in Multifamily Housing?

45 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2018 Last revised: 16 Dec 2022

See all articles by Meagan McCollum

Meagan McCollum

University of Tulsa - Collins College of Business

Stanimira Milcheva

University College London

Date Written: August 19, 2020

Abstract

We assess the role of state-level renter protection regulations on the pricing, performance and risk of multifamily housing. We construct a renter protection score (RPS) to measure the extent of renter protection in each state. Using a proprietary property-level dataset from loans backed by commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) and census tract socioeconomic variables, we study the role of RPS on initial capitalization (cap) rates, annual net operating income (NOI) and annual loan delinquency rates of multifamily housing.
We find that, contrary to conventional wisdom that renter protection is `bad' for investors, multifamily housing in high RPS states is associated higher annual NOI and NOI growth and lower delinquency rates. We also show that better tenant protection is associated with lower initial cap rates. The results point to investors perceiving properties in more regulated states as lower risk due to reduced income volatility. For institutional investors, higher levels of renter protection are, therefore, not `bad' but are instead associated with lower cash flow volatility and better income growth prospects.

Keywords: Multifamily housing, rental market, cap rates, volatility, NOI, renter protection.

Suggested Citation

McCollum, Meagan and Milcheva, Stanimira, How `Bad' is Renter Protection for Institutional Investment in Multifamily Housing? (August 19, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3278162 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3278162

Meagan McCollum

University of Tulsa - Collins College of Business ( email )

600 South College
Tulsa, OK 74104
United States

Stanimira Milcheva (Contact Author)

University College London ( email )

1-19 Torrington Place
Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction
London, London WC1E 7HB
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.stanimilcheva.com

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
271
Abstract Views
1,404
Rank
232,217
PlumX Metrics