Welcome back to What's Hot & What's Not CRE — your daily pulse on commercial real estate in America. It's Thursday, January 29th, 2026. Today we're comparing Class A, B, and C multifamily — and there's a clear winner for 2026.

🔥 What's Hot — Class B Workforce Housing Dominates: Class B occupancy at 95.8% vs Class A at 95.7% — and Class B has held stronger Workforce housing outperforming luxury in rent growth — price gap allows Class B to push rents with less resistance Shortage of Class B and C workforce housing remains acute — demand is structural, not cyclical Value-add Class B strategy attracting capital — stable cash flows make it central to income-oriented strategies Northeast Class B seeing 4-5% rent growth; Midwest steady at 3-4.5% MBA forecasting $419 billion in new multifamily loans for 2026 — much targeting workforce housing

❄️ What's Not — Class A in Oversupplied Markets: Sun Belt Class A facing deep concessions — Phoenix has highest concession rate in country 500,000 new units still in lease-up phase from 2025 — mostly Class A Austin, Phoenix, Raleigh, Orlando remain challenged through late 2026 Class A concessions masking true rent performance — inflating valuations and creating CMBS risk

🔄 Class C — Mixed Bag: Facing margin squeeze: rent limits, rising insurance, maintenance costs Older Class C struggling as renters have more options But affordable Class C in strong locations still benefiting from workforce demand 💡

Investor Takeaway: Class B workforce housing is the strongest play for 2026 — durable demand, manageable expense pressure, and capital access. Class A in oversupplied Sun Belt markets is weakest — avoid until concessions burn off late 2026. Class C can work, but only with hands-on management.

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