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Fundamentals in the multifamily apartment market are weakening as a historic surge of new supply continues to make its way through the pipeline and rental demand falls back. At the same time, investor demand for these properties is rising.
As an example, Camden Property Trust, a top-10 multifamily real estate investment trust, quietly began marketing its entire California apartment portfolio — 11 properties valued at roughly $1.5 billion — a few weeks ago and has already had significant interest.
“We have a huge demand for it right now,” Ric Campo, CEO of Camden, told CNBC. “Not two or three, but hundreds.”
Campo said the company wants to focus entirely on the Sun Belt, which is where 90% of its properties are now.
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“We think the Sun Belt markets are going to — once they recover, which should happen, we think in ’26 or ’27 — they will be better growth dynamic markets than California and our long-term cash flow growth, or net operating income growth, will be better concentrated in the Sun Belt than Southern California, so it’s fundamentally why we’re selling.”
As for the timing, he said poor fundamentals are actually fueling demand.
“You’ve had no rent growth, yet you’ve had wage growth, and so affordability for apartments across America has gotten better,” Campo said. “And at the same time, if you look back at the last 20 years, only during really complicated recessions or the financial crisis have apartment rents stayed flat for more than a year or two, and so the market believes fundamentally that there’ll be a turn in the market.”
Fundamentals
Rents started 2026 on a low note, with the national median in January down 1.4% year-over-year, the largest annual drop since September 2023 and the lowest January rent since 2022, according to Apartment List. Rents are now more than 6% lower than their last peak in 2022.
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Rents are falling because of rising vacancies. The national vacancy rate was 7.3% in January, a record high on Apartment List’s index, which dates back to 2017. Units are also taking an average of 41 days to get leased, four days more than in January 2025 and another high for the index.
“We’re past the peak of a multifamily construction surge, but a healthy supply of new units are still hitting the market and colliding with sluggish demand, causing vacancies to continue trending up,” said Chris Salviati, chief economist at Apartment List.
More than 600,000 new multifamily units hit the market in 2024, the most new supply in a single year since 1986. That came down to 500,000 in 2025, and 2026 is expected to bring even fewer, but still above average.
“Whether or not market conditions shift will now depend on rental demand, whose outlook has grown shakier due to weakness in the labor market and general economic uncertainty,” Salviati said.
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Growing investor demand
As fundamentals weaken, however, investor interest in the sector from both private capital and REITs is strengthening. Multifamily led all real estate sectors in 2025 deal-making, according to Moody’s.
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Mark Franceski, managing director of research and securities at Zelman & Associates, called it “a defining conflict.”
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Trailing 12-month transaction volume has increased on an annual basis for 14 consecutive months, despite essentially no change to capitalization rates, according to Franceski.
“We still believe in it as stable and steady, and the long-term outlook is good, but fundamentals and investors point to the same thing: weakness,” Franceski said.
Berkadia’s 2026 Multifamily Investor Sentiment Survey, which surveyed 249 investors to assess anticipated transaction activity and opportunities within the sector in 2026, found that 87% of investors plan to moderately or aggressively expand their multifamily portfolios in 2026, “demonstrating cautious optimism despite ongoing challenges.”
In addition, a majority of investors (59%) expect moderate rental growth in the multifamily sector this year. Regionally, the Southeast, Midwest and Texas are forecast as the top regions for multifamily investment, fueled by migration trends, affordability and business-friendly policies, according to the Berkadia survey.
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The play
So how do you unpack the disconnect between the seemingly robust investor appetite to own apartments and the soft demand fundamentals?
“They’re looking through the softness today to what they see as a better environment tomorrow,” said Samuel Sahn, managing partner and portfolio manager at Hazelview Investments, an Ontario, Canada-based firm with $11 billion in assets under management.
“For those private entities that have money to invest and are taking a five- to 10-year lens, because that is the time frame that they have in their private funds, they like what the world looks like in 2027 and beyond,” he added.
Sahn said an expected upturn in household formation and sharply slowing multifamily construction starts will ultimately give landlords more pricing power for both new leases and renewals.
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Franceski, however, said location (which is of course an investment variable in all real estate) will be far more critical than usual in the coming cycle.
“I would treat [local] markets like stocks. It’s a market pickers’ market the same way the stock market is. People are hyperfocused on regions and markets,” he said.
Analysts scrutinizing Camden’s California exit also factor in state regulations.
“The positive is reducing exposure from a heavily regulated state versus CPT’s broader Sunbelt investment focus,” said Alexander Goldfarb, managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Sandler.
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That’s exactly what Campo is arguing, despite some saying it overheated in the past decade and is now overbuilt.
“The regulatory construct in the Sun Belt is what drives Sun Belt growth. It’s pro-business. It’s a young population, a highly qualified workforce,” Campo said.
Meanwhile, Franceski offered another angle to the play: alternatives within the sector, like senior living and student housing. Those both fall under the multifamily umbrella and also see strong future demographic trends, especially senior living.
“Everybody’s got to live somewhere. The real focus is on solid operations and stability rather than growth industry,” he said.
The Department of Defence will finally move to divest both Leeuwin Barracks in East Fremantle and Irwin Barracks at Karrakatta, after years of speculation.
U.S. cattle herds may be smaller for the foreseeable future as ranchers show few signs of building up the nation’s livestock supply, said executives from Tyson Foods, America’s largest meat supplier.
Officials at the Arkansas-based company said the shortage of cattle on U.S. pastures is expected to last through at least 2026 and 2027. Last week the U.S. Agriculture Department said the cattle herd was at its lowest level since 1951. The tighter supply is driving up cattle costs and squeezing meatpackers like Tyson.
“The data that we see indicates an ultimately smaller herd,” Tyson Chief Operating Officer Devin Cole said on a call with analysts. “Cattle are going to remain extremely tight.”
Markets staged a strong rebound on Tuesday, driven by a landmark trade agreement between India and the United States. Analysts say the sharp surge in the Nifty suggests a potential shift in the near-term trend after the Budget-related sell-off, as the index has reclaimed its key moving averages.
Shares of Trent, NHPC, Tube Investments, Hexaware Technologies and Apollo Tyres will be in focus as the companies will announce their third quarter results today.
BPCL
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State-run refiner Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) has raised its capital expenditure plan for the coming fiscal year by 35% to Rs 25,000 crore, driven by an aggressive push into petrochemicals, even as peers Indian Oil and ONGC have trimmed their investment budgets. Bajaj Finance
Bajaj Finance on Tuesday reported a 6% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter at Rs 4,066 crore. The drop in bottomline was mainly due to an accelerated ECL provision and one-time charge of new labour codes. Adjusted for the above and tax, the profit grew 23% to Rs 5,317 crore.Pidilite Industries
Pidilite Industries on Tuesday reported 12% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 624 crore for the third quarter ended December 2025. The company had posted a profit of Rs 557 crore in the third quarter last fiscal, Pidilite Industries, manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals.
AB Capital
Aditya Birla Capital reported a 33% jump in its December quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 945 crore compared to Rs 708 crore reported in the year ago period. The profit after tax (PAT) is attributable to the owners of the company.
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Mankind Pharma
Indian drugmaker Mankind Pharma reported a higher third-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by strong domestic demand for its drugs used for treating long-term illnesses. The company, which makes Gas-O-Fast antacid tablet and Manforce condoms, said its consolidated net profit climbed to Rs 409 crore ($45.3 million) for the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 380 crore.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
The rupee surged the most in seven years and India’s equity gauges logged their largest gains in nine months after Washington agreed, as part of a long-awaited trade deal, to reduce tariffs hurting shipments and foreign inflows.
News of the successful US-India agreement caused both the Nifty and the Sensex to surge as much as 5% intraday. The central bank, meanwhile, reportedly bought dollars, preventing the rupee from appreciating too much, too soon. The Nifty 50 advanced 639.15 points, or 2.5%, to 25,727.5 at close of trading, while the Sensex climbed 2,072.67 points, or 2.5%, to end at 83,739.1.
ET Bureau
“The tariff-related uncertainty was one of the many reasons for India’s rising trade gap, equity market underperformance, $19 billion of selling by foreign investors in 2025, and a weakening currency,” said Ashish Gupta, chief investment officer, Axis Mutual Fund. “The new framework removes a key source of uncertainty around the growth outlook, supporting external demand, improving business sentiment, and potentially catalysing a pickup in private capex.”
The rupee, which had the dubious distinction of being the worst performer in Asia in 2025, rallied 125 paise on Tuesday to 90.26 a dollar from 91.51. Its logical advance beyond 90, dealers said, was halted only by the central bank’s decision to buy the US currency, which it had relentlessly sold from its stockpile earlier to prevent the local unit’s rout.
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Trade Anxiety Abates “Capital flows could see an improvement as the deal lifts overall sentiment,” said Shailendra Jhingan, head of treasury, ICICI Bank. “Foreign capital, which had stayed on the sidelines over the past few months, may begin to return, leading to inflows into both equity and debt markets.” He expects the rupee, the value of which vis-à-vis the dollar has a disproportionate say on overseas capital flows into Mumbai-listed growth assets, to trade between 90 and 89.50 per dollar by end of March. India’s volatility index VIX—the stock market’s fear gauge— fell 7% to 12.90, reflecting a thaw in trader anxiety. Analysts said the index could challenge its all-time high of 26,373.2 in the near term.
Altius, Fortius “The Nifty has traded in a broad range of nearly 1,500 points for most part of May to now, and after the announcement of the trade deal, we may see this range shifting upward, with a potential for Nifty to move toward 26,650 levels on the back of improved sentiment in the coming weeks,” said Rohit Srivastava, founder, indiacharts.com.
Foreign portfolio investors were net buyers of ₹5,236 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutions bought shares worth ₹1,014 crore. So far this year, overseas investors have net sold to the tune of nearly ₹28,180 crore.
BNP Paribas Securities said the trade deal supports its positive outlook on Indian equities this year. It expects a return of foreign fund flows to benefit IT and financial stocks.
Across Asia, markets surged Tuesday, reversing some of the recent losses. Japan gained 3.9%, China 1.3%, Hong Kong 0.2%, South Korea 6.8% and Taiwan 1.8%. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 was up 0.1% at the time of going to press.
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At home, the broader market too ended strong, with the Nifty Mid-cap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 surging more than 2.9% each. Of the total 4,422 stocks traded on the BSE, 3,279 advanced and 1,015 declined.
Harendra Kumar, managing director of Elara Securities, said the deal strengthens India’s long-term macro setup. “With the tariff overhang now behind us, India’s longterm growth outlook has strengthened, with the GDP potentially expanding at 8-8.5% from FY28-FY29 onwards,” Kumar said. “This should support higher valuation multiples for Indian markets and, alongside a weaker rupee, improve India’s appeal to FIIs.”
Kumar expects the Nifty to hit 30,000 by March 2027.
Gupta said the tone for equities has turned more favourable after a weak start to 2026. The backdrop, he said, is improving thanks to better valuations, stronger earnings expectations, firmer economic momentum following the budget and steady domestic flows. “With tariff uncertainties now resolved, the near-term risk-reward has shifted in favour of equities, and these factors together are expected to meaningfully strengthen India’s FY27 growth outlook,” he said.
Professional Capital Management CEO Anthony Pompliano explains why he is ‘betting’ on Elon Musk after the SpaceX founder merges SpaceX with his A.I. start-up and more on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
French police raided X offices in Paris on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the company’s use of algorithms and its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
French prosecutors had opened the probe in 2025 following a complaint by a lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on the platform were likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system.
Authorities are now examining suspected algorithm abuse and fraudulent data extraction by X or the platform’s executives, prosecutors said.
Britain’s privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, also said on Tuesday in a statement it had launched a formal investigation into Grok over the processing of personal data and reports that the chatbot had been used to generate nonconsensual sexual imagery, including of children.
X went on to criticize the French authorities’ actions, accusing prosecutors of bypassing international legal mechanisms.
The investigation has also broadened to include Grok, X’s AI chatbot. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The company said in a statement on X that the Paris Public Prosecutor’s office was “plainly attempting to exert pressure on X’s senior management in the United States by targeting our French entity and employees, who are not the focus of this investigation.”
Musk called the raid a “political attack.” (Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo/Reuters / Reuters Photos)
In a separate statement, Europol said it was supporting the French investigation with the assistance of the French Gendarmerie’s cybercrime unit.
“The investigation concerns a range of suspected criminal offences linked to the functioning and use of the platform, including the dissemination of illegal content and other forms of online criminal activity. Europol stands ready to continue supporting the French authorities as the investigation progresses,” it said.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO) Q3 2026 Earnings Call February 3, 2026 4:30 PM EST
Company Participants
Nicole Shevins – Senior Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Strauss Zelnick – Executive Chairman & CEO Karl Slatoff – President Lainie Goldstein – Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
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Douglas Creutz – TD Cowen, Research Division Eric Handler – ROTH Capital Partners, LLC, Research Division Colin Sebastian – Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division Christopher Schoell – UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Andrew Marok – Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division Edward Alter – Jefferies LLC, Research Division Jason Bazinet – Citigroup Inc., Research Division Alec Brondolo – Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division Michael Hickey – The Benchmark Company, LLC, Research Division Andrew Crum – B. Riley Securities, Inc., Research Division Brian Pitz – BMO Capital Markets Equity Research Martin Yang – Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division Omar Dessouky – BofA Securities, Research Division
Presentation
Operator
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Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Tiffany, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Q3 Fiscal Year 2026 Quarterly Earnings Results Call. [Operator Instructions]
I would now like to turn the call over to Nicole Shevins, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Nicole, please go ahead.
Nicole Shevins Senior Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
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Good afternoon. Thank you for joining our conference call to discuss our results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 ended December 31, 2025.
Today’s call will be led by Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Karl Slatoff, our President; and Lainie Goldstein, our Chief Financial Officer. We will be available to answer your questions during the Q&A session following our prepared remarks.
Before we begin, I’d like to remind everyone that statements made during
Billionaire Adrian Portelli’s push into the fuel market seems to be taking shape after months of speculations and social media posts.
Signage for Portelli’s LMCT+ has appeared at a former Shell site in Melbourne, leading many to assume that the opening of the brand’s first physical location is not far off.
LMCT+ Signage Appears at Former Shell Site in Melbourne
The former Shell site is located at the corner of Gower St and Plenty Rd in Preston, according to Real Commercial.
The membership-based brand is a result of Portelli’s frustrations with the fuel market in Australia, notes WhichCar, particularly the refusal of major companies to offer discounts.
LMCT+ is, therefore, positioning itself as “rewards hubs” that offer fuel discounts in addition to other promotions and giveaways from the brands.
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It has also been speculated that the Preston location will not be the only LMCT+ sites as it is only a sign of things to come.
Social Media Comments Are Positive
Social media comments regarding LMCT+ and Portelli have largely been positive.
Comments left on LMCT+’s Instagram posts range from calls for cheaper fuel to support for Portelli should he decide to run for office.
“You are a hero to the working class,” one comment reads.
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“Run for parliament & you got my vote,” another comment says.
There is even one comment that reads “Can you just buy Australia and fix it … thanks.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed that another Australian, a male in his 20s, died while skiing in Japan.
The tragic news comes after 22-year-old Brooke Day passed away following a ski lift accident.
Second Australian Dies in While Skiing in Japan
According to a report by news.com.au, the Australia man died while skiing off-piste in an unpatrolled terrain between Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort and Niseko Annupuri International Ski Resort.
The young man had been skiing with a group, who eventually noticed that he disappeared along the way.
His friends went back to search firm and found another group of skiers performing CPR on him.
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He was brought to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to ABC News.
“We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time,” DFAT said in a statement, per 7NEWS. “Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”
One Tragedy After the Other
The death of the young Australian man comes after Brooke Day passed away following a ski lift accident.
According to The Gurdian, the 22-year-old sustained critical injuries after her backpack was caught in the ski lift as she was trying to disembark.
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This caused her to be dragged along the snow before being suspended in mid-air. She reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest.
The accident took place at the Tsugaike Mountain resort in Otari, near Nagano.
| Photography and videos by Ricky-Thomas Serikawa for WSJ
A Michigan pension fund wanted to grow the second-largest coffee farm in Hawaii. What happened there demonstrates the perils of investing public workers’ savings in private markets.
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The $16 billion Lansing-based retirement fund ended up abandoning the coffee farm last spring after nine years and $86 million in losses. A few months later, the pension said it had lost $53 million on another ambitious private market bet: an investment with a one-year-old Swiss firm in renewable energy technology.
