SAN DIEGO—One-third of Millennials aren't even looking for apartments yet, which bodes well for the future of the industry, Steadfast Cos.' president Ella Shaw Neyland told attendees during the packed CEO panel portion of the general session at NMHC's Annual Meeting here yesterday. While still admitting a degree of uncertainty with the Trump administration, overall the panelists had strong predictions for the future of this sector.

Bob Faith, founder, chairman and CEO of Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, said he has “given up trying to predict” what will happen with the Trump administration. “All we know at this point is that we don't know.” Still, he added, he does take some “comfort that he is a real estate guy.”

Hessam Nadji, president and CEO of Marcus & Millichap, said some investors are taking a wait-and-see approach to investing because of Trump's win, “but leading up to the election, everyone expected more of the same—now that is thrown out the window.” Having Trump in the White House “opens the door for real change” and puts possibilities on the table that weren't there before, but “all expectations of possibilities are speculation.” The overall national economy had been growing for some time and is expected to continue on that road, Nadji said. “In the last 10 years, our GDP has grown by the size of the entire Japanese economy.”