RACE TO SPEND

July 10, 2012 | 8:00 am ET Staff Reporter

It seems everyone wants to deploy their capital into the best-quality multifamily assets in the Southeast in the shortest time. (The sprinting spirit is alive thanks to the Olympics.) The winners get to lock in good returns generated by strong fundamentals.

Capital Advisors VP Philip Rachels tells us that multifamily deals in the Southeast are being driven by lenders expecting key metrics to be sound throughout the region at least over the next 24 months. "Sales velocity is strong and investors are buying the cash flow delivered by the very aggressive financing that's available," Philip says. "We believe that these types of transactions will be imminently financeable over the next two to three years."

Charlotte-based Capital Advisors is certainly in the race. Philip recently put together $17.6M in construction financing for the Catalyst Student Apartments, a 402-bed student housing property in Tallahassee. (Hope that budget includes an in-house pizza oven.) For some years now, he says, there have been very few construction starts, and landlords have been able to increase occupancy and bump up rents across the board in most Southeastern markets.