Sam Landy, president and CEO of UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE: UMH), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: 2021 Investor Conference.
Landy described the fundamentals for affordable housing demand as “incredibly strong,” noting that there is a 4 million unit shortage of affordable housing across the country. He noted that demand was strong for both rental manufactured housing as well as for the sale of manufactured homes.
Turning to inflation, Landy said that should inflation exceed current levels, UMH has the ability to raise rents. However, he also stressed that given the affordability aspect of manufactured housing, UMH tries not to raise rents more than 4% a year.
Meanwhile, Landy outlined some of UMH’s most promising internal and external growth opportunities. He noted that UMH has over 1,800 vacant acres adjoining its existing communities that can be turned into 7,000 manufactured home sites.
UMH also has over 3,000 vacant existing sites and UMH is adding 900 rental homes a year on these sites.
As for external opportunities, Landy said UMH’s cost of capital has dropped dramatically. As a result, communities that the REIT previously turned down because they weren’t accretive are now looking more attractive.