NAA’s Bob Pinnegar: 2026 Marks the Turning Point for Multifamily Article originally posted on HERE on December 19, 2025 While a familiar refrain in 2024 was “stay alive till 25,” the multifamily industry didn’t see the recovery expected this year. However, the year still brought some wins to the industry and 2026 is positioned for improvement, says Bob Pinnegar, president and CEO of the National Apartment Association. “It’s not the recovery year that many people had thought, but I think we’re on a path to where things are going be better as we go into 2026 and then 2027,” he says. Positives on the advocacy front, according to Pinnegar, include bipartisan legislation as well as the substantial deregulation enacted at the beginning of the second Trump administration, a trend anticipated to continue in 2026. Pinnegar points to the One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law in July, which included provisions to address the nation’s housing supply crisis, such as a permanent 12% increase of the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), the reduction of the bond financing threshold for 4% LIHTC projects, and expanded federal Opportunity Zones. In addition, some of the deregulation actions earlier this year included the Department of Housing and Urban Development reducing mortgage insurance premiums for new multifamily loan originations, rules around fair housing, and the delay of some energy efficiency and conservation standards. Pinnegar and NAA will continue its advocacy work in 2026, hopeful for additional bipartisan action on housing. The industry has been seeing growing legislative momentum on affordability and housing supply. The Senate advanced its ROAD to Housing Act of 2025—a comprehensive housing package to boost supply, increase oversight and efficiency of federal regulators and housing programs, help reduce homelessness, and improve affordability—this summer. And this week, the House Financial Services Committee passed its Housing for the 21st Century Act, its first markup of a sweeping bipartisan housing package in nearly a decade. “We are going to continue to move forward on the other pieces of legislation to get them through the process,” he says. “The only way we’re going to solve the affordability crisis is by increasing the supply of housing, from rental housing to homeownership—from your first apartment to your last apartment, to your first home to your last home, to maybe your apartment that you have when you retire. We are part of that housing spectrum, and we need to work to make sure that we have more apartment options at all levels of affordability for our customers.” On Pinnegar’s watch list for 2026? Artificial intelligence (AI) and risk management. He says he continues to hear from NAA members about their struggles with AI and understanding what that means for the industry. “Staffing continues to be an issue, primarily for maintenance techs and on-site staff, especially as things have become more technical than they used to be,” he says. “Trying to find people that have those skill sets is new for us in this industry, and we’re competing with a lot of other industries that are looking for similar skill sets.” Pinnegar shares that he thinks AI is going to change the face of the industry going forward over the next three to five years. “I have listened to people say that ‘it will either be this great savior, or it will be terrible.’ I think it’s going to probably be somewhere in the middle,” he notes. “There’s a lot of apprehension on the part of employees— ‘what is this going to do to my job?’ I think it’s going to be something that’s going to enhance their jobs, the mundane stuff that used to take up a lot of time. I think that’s the kind of things that can be addressed with AI, allowing people to focus on other aspects of their jobs that are more rewarding.” He also expects risk management to continue to be an issue heading into 2026. “This industry has gotten large enough and sophisticated enough that we are really under the microscope, especially as housing affordability challenges remains top-of-mind for communities nationwide. We’re an industry that is not used to being in the public eye, and so companies tend to shy away from that, but I think it is now more important than ever that we proactively shine a light on all the good that we do to benefit our residents and communities, especially in the charitable space.” With the FTC’s recent settlement with Greystar, the announcement of a rule making process, and letters to 13 property management software companies, the direction of the FTC is clear. Pinnegar says disclosure of rental rates, including associated fees, will be required in advertisement for available units. “Likely we’re going to have a new nationwide base level in regard to fees and transparency—from federal rulemaking. It’s going to be a massive education effort for us. We need to equip the industry to be able to make this adjustment. The learning curve will be especially challenging for operators of mid-sized to smaller portfolios as they adapt.” He added: “We could see a situation where attorneys general across the nation begin to take this issue up, and a result, this is something that the industry needs to take very seriously. Getting in front of this as opposed to being hit is the best strategy, especially given the expenses of litigation.” Looking ahead, with multifamily starts down and decelerating deliveries this year, Pinnegar says 2026 could be a year for opportunities for developers. “I think this is going to be one of those years that we look back on, as we get into 2028 and 2029 and say, this was a year where we saw a pivot moving to better times. Many markets have bottomed out and are positioned for a recovery. The early shoots of development interest are emerging, and developers are looking for opportunities. We’re going to say 2026 was the beginning of the recovery of the industry from the development standpoint.”