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NEW ORLEANS. -- The traditional sources of debt and equity multifamily financing will continue to be active players, at least in the near term.
"It's definitely a borrowers' market," said John Tidman of PruExpress, a division of the Prudential Realty Group, Atlanta. "Never have so many lenders been chasing apartment deals."
Indeed, representatives of some 70 firms were at the Multi-Housing World Conference, passing out product descriptions and rate sheets.
For example, a flier handed to many of the 10,000 registrants by the Fidelity Financial Capital Corp., an affiliate of Evansville Federal Savings Bank, Indianapolis, said it "is actively seeking to make loans for its own portfolio and would welcome the opportunity to review your project."
There ere so many lenders here, in fact, that for the first-time, the now traditional Multifamily Finance Marketplace was divided into two separate events, one for conventional projects and the other for those backed by low-income housing tax credits.
The marketplaces aren't intended for developers and owners to discuss their projects at length with one or two firms. Rather, they are held so as many contacts can made as time will allow.
"The idea for the marketplace grew out of the constantly shifting multifamily finance climate," said Michael McCullough, director, of multifamily finance for the National Association of Home Builders, a joint sponsor of he annual conference.
"New products are introduced, companies enter new markets or diversify...