2025, The Year of Global Recalibration. And What’s Coming in 2026

<p>2025 was a year of global recalibration, and 2026 may test which assumptions truly hold.</p><p>In this episode of Multifamily Forward, we step back to examine how cooling labor data, late-year rate cuts and rising geopolitical risk reshaped market dynamics in 2025 and what those shifts signal for the year ahead.</p><p>We explore whether the Fed’s pivot points to a soft landing or emerging structural weakness, how energy volatility and supply-chain realignment are redirecting capital toward U.S. real assets, and which macro force, AI-driven industrialization, demographic aging or mounting fiscal pressure, will matter most for economic stability in 2026.</p><p>Turning to demand, we unpack why absorption has remained resilient despite slowing job growth in Phoenix, what changing renter behavior reveals about the post-pandemic demand equation, and how affordability constraints and delayed household formation are reshaping decision-making.</p><p>Finally, we assess the impact of peak supply, capital discipline and AI adoption, separating durable strategies from hype, and close with a contrarian question. What belief about the 2026 market are most investors and operators getting wrong?</p>