This is a good time to be a borrower, according to Jeff Erxleben, executive vice president and regional manager in the Dallas office of real estate debt and equity provider NorthMarq Capital. All types of capital providers—banks, insurance companies, conduit lenders and private equity funds—are actively looking for deals, and loan terms continue to be attractive, even if loan-to-value (LTV) ratios have not moved much above 65 percent.

But while capital markets look set to have an active year in 2017, borrowers should keep in mind that lenders are gradually becoming more conservative as the we get further and further into the cycle and as interest rates are projected to rise.

Niche investing in student housing may now be going mainstream. While student housing has traditionally been a niche alternative that few investors considered, many investors have been increasingly eyeing this asset class with new interest, and for good reason.

Oakland Affordable Living is part of a plan to bring needed affordable housing units to one of the city’s most bustling and vibrant neighborhoods — but that plan got a little harder after the November election.

The 49-unit project calls for 25 new units and 24 rehabbed units at Allequippa Place in Oakland — a neighborhood with good public transit access, a plethora of job opportunities at its hospitals and universities, and in need of affordable housing for non-students, said Wanda Wilson, executive director of the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation.

“It's a very important project … in the neighborhood [both] to be able to improve long-abandoned vacant properties and improve a gateway into West Oakland,” said Ms. Wilson.

However, post-election changes in the low income housing tax credit market have left them with a gap in the project's budget. Ms. Wilson said the development is still moving forward, but her organization has applied to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to make up the difference, and they aren't alone.

A decade after the U.S. housing market collapsed, Federal Reserve officials are watching rising apartment towers as the next potential asset-price bubble, which could add to the debate about the pace of interest-rate hikes this year.

SAN DIEGO—From new sustainability features to rooftop urban gardens and more efficient use of space, the next wave of innovations for apartments will make living there cheaper and better for residents, say speakers at NMHC’s Annual Meeting.