Legislative uncertainty keeps weighing on build-to-rent capital, operators say

Build-to-rent units under construction fell 18.5% year over year in the third quarter, completions fell 40.2% and community sales volume dropped 51.5%, according to National Apartment Association data cited by HousingWire. Executives including QuinnResidences CEO Richard Ross and Amherst CEO Sean Dobson said capital has not fully returned after the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, even though the final law carved build-to-rent out of its institutional investor ban. They pointed to Treasury's October proposed rules, including an 18-month purchase window from certificate of occupancy that Ross called too short, and to the possibility of further federal or state ownership limits. NAA's Owen Caine said he expects bipartisan resistance to new restrictions.