An ever-shifting economic environment – spurred by a prolonged inflationary period – and persistent staffing and recruitment challenges are impacting operations for apartment owners and operators across the rental housing industry. To help shed light on the current landscape, the National Apartment Association (NAA) and AppFolio surveyed more than 2,000 property management professionals nationwide to uncover their most pressing concerns and discover the short- and long-term solutions they're employing to help ease these challenges.

Here are some of the report's most prominent findings, and what they reveal about the industry's trajectory over the months and years to come.

• Operational Efficiency is Top of Mind

Inflation has emerged as the defining factor impacting the industry's landscape, with 76% of property management professionals citing operational efficiency as one of their top three challenges. Within this category, respondents listed reducing costs, finding high quality vendors/suppliers, tracking projects and freeing up the team from labor-intensive processes as their most pressing concerns.

"Inflation has spoken loud and clear in this year's survey, touching many of the industry's most pressing challenges," said NAA Vice President of Research Paula Munger. "This doesn't mean that the industry's labor woes have disappeared, but it is a testament to the impacts of a high interest rate and high inflationary environment."