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Good afternoon. It's Thursday, June 25, 2026. The cycle's biggest housing bill stalled a day after passage when the President canceled the signing, while Freddie Mac's latest data kept the 30-year mortgage near 6.5% and the demand floor under apartments firm. Also in today's edition: May's $42 billion in CRE sales, single-family rents rising everywhere, tax-exempt bonds, and Opportunity Zones 2.0.

CAPITAL MARKETS WATCH

Today's focus: Data Thursday. What does this week's most important data release tell us about the multifamily market?

Freddie Mac's latest PMMS has the 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.47%, easing slightly week over week and still below year-ago levels, the kind of grind lower that supports housing demand without resetting affordability. The 10-year Treasury sits near 4.45% this morning, down a couple of basis points, while the Federal Reserve holds the federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75% and the next FOMC meeting falls on July 28 to 29. After the committee's hawkish June dot plot, CME FedWatch still prices no 2026 cut and a live chance of a hike, so agency execution, not a forecast, sets the cost of capital. Fannie Mae multifamily agency rates remain in the 5.54% to 6.35% range depending on size, leverage, and structure. This week's most important read is the mortgage rate itself: a 30-year fixed stuck near 6.5% keeps the marginal buyer renting and the demand floor under stabilized apartments firm. May PCE on June 27 is the next release likely to move spreads.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES

1. Trump Casts Doubt on Signing the ROAD to Housing Act. The Cycle's Biggest Housing Bill Stalls a Day After Passage.

One day after Congress sent the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to his desk, President Trump canceled the planned signing and pressed lawmakers to pass his SAVE Act first, leaving the most consequential federal housing bill of the cycle in limbo, per GlobeSt and Bisnow. The package pairs zoning and supply incentives with new limits on large institutional buyers, so the delay defers both. For investors, it is a reminder that the supply shortage anchoring rental demand will not be legislated away quickly, and the build-to-rent and ownership provisions still warrant close reading.

Read the full story at GlobeSt and Bisnow

2. May Commercial Real Estate Sales Reached $42 Billion. A 205 Percent Surge in M&A Carried an Otherwise Sluggish Month.

Commercial real estate sales hit $42 billion in May, propped up by a 205% jump in mergers and portfolio deals even as single-asset transaction volume stayed sluggish, per MSCI data reported by Bisnow. The split shows capital is moving at the entity and portfolio level, where scale and discounted public valuations create entry points, while one-off deals still struggle on the bid-ask gap. For investors, the signal is that the recovery is arriving first through consolidation, so operators with scale or a clean platform are the ones attracting capital right now.

Read the full story at Bisnow

3. Single-Family Rents Rose in Every Major Market. Investor Demand Returns as Capital Markets Recover.

A new report finds positive single-family rent growth across all 50 of the largest metros, alongside recovering capital markets activity and renewed REIT acquisitions, per GlobeSt. Broad-based rent growth and a returning investor bid suggest the rental demand story is strengthening even where for-sale affordability remains stretched. For multifamily investors, the read-through is supportive: the same forces keeping households in single-family rentals, high ownership costs and limited supply, underpin demand for stabilized apartments, and a reviving acquisition market hints the private bid is following the public one.

Read the full story at GlobeSt

4. Tax Exempt Bonds Regain Their Edge for Affordable Housing. Rising Rates Make Efficient Bond Structures Worth a Second Look.

Rising interest rates are amplifying the value of tax-exempt bond executions, driving affordable housing sponsors back toward more efficient bond structures, per GlobeSt. As taxable debt has grown more expensive, the spread advantage of tax-exempt financing has widened, improving the math on deals that pair bonds with low-income housing tax credits. For investors and syndicators in the affordable and mixed-income space, the takeaway is that capital structure, not just asset selection, is where returns are being defended this year, and bond-driven executions deserve a fresh look in current underwriting.

Read the full story at GlobeSt

5. Opportunity Zones 2.0 Is Coming. Sponsors Should Move Now to Influence Census Tract Mapping.

A new round of Opportunity Zone incentives, OZ 2.0, is on the way, and Multi-Housing News advises sponsors with projects in mind to alert state officials now in order to shape which census tracts get designated. Because the tax benefits hinge on tract boundaries, early engagement can determine whether a planned development qualifies for the deferral and exclusion of capital gains. For investors, the practical move is to map pipeline sites against likely tract designations early, since the window to influence the map closes well before the incentives take effect.

Read the full story at Multi-Housing News

THE FWC PERSPECTIVE

How today's news connects to the Fourth Wall Capital multifamily investment thesis

Data Thursday lands on a simple read: the cost of capital is not falling, and the demand floor is holding. A 30-year mortgage stuck near 6.5% and a Fed leaning toward a hike keep the marginal buyer renting, while single-family rents rising in every major market confirm the demand side is firm. The 2026 thesis is unchanged. Underwrite to the agency execution that exists today, not to a rate cut the Fed has not promised.

The capital is moving, just selectively. A 205% surge in M&A, a reopening REIT window, and renewed value in tax-exempt bond structures all point to a recovery arriving first through scale, public vehicles, and efficient financing rather than across the board. Fourth Wall Capital reads it the same way: position in supply-constrained submarkets past their delivery peak, defend returns through capital structure as much as asset selection, and let disciplined underwriting carry the margin of safety into the second half.

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