The pandemic set off an unusual time in multifamily. The sector became part of the short game. Rents drove upward, responding to increased prices, and things moved very fast. But with the shifts of the market, it's time for the long game — remembering, or learning, how to maintain the success of multifamily property management under the dual forces of slow rent growth and higher interest rates.

While rents were flat between January and February, that's one small data point. The bigger issue is the year-over-year fall in many areas. "Asking rent growth remains positive year-over-year in almost every metro, but 23 of Matrix's top 30 metros recorded negative growth over the last three months and 17 were negative in February," as the latest edition of the Yardi Matrix National Multifamily Report noted. "Affordability, household growth and deliveries of new stock are key rent drivers."

The flat move early in the year has been normal, at least in the six years before the pandemic leap in rents and values. Usually, the change between January and February is only $2. "The big question is whether demand and rents pick up as normal in the spring," the report said. "Many of the high-flyers that recorded outsize increases over the last two years are now negative or barely positive year-over-year. Las Vegas (-1.6%) and Phoenix (-1.2%) saw negative rent growth over the past year, while Austin (2.0%), Atlanta (2.2%) and Sacramento (2.3%) are barely above water."