Ric Campo, chairman and CEO of Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITworld: 2021 Annual Conference.
Campo noted that Camden is seeing the highest occupancy levels that it has ever had in its history. “We’re talking about no room at the inn, so to speak. We’re at 97.5% occupancy, I don’t think we can get much higher than that,” he said.
Going forward, Campo said he expects demand to continue to outpace supply, in part because building materials are being delayed because of supply chain issues.
Turning to the level of competition for multifamily acquisitions, Campo noted that there is a “wall of capital trying to invest in yield-oriented investments.” With Treasury and interest rates low, the acquisition market has been “brutal,” he said.
Despite the competition, Camden is definitely increasing acquisitions, Campo said. Given high stock prices, Camden is using equity to buy assets and is lowering debt in the process. He noted that using equity “gives us gas in our tank for 2022 and 2023…when we do hit an air pocket, we’ll be positioned really well to fund the acquisition and development market by having one of the best balance sheets in REIT land.”
Campo also discussed the importance for multifamily owners and operators to adopt the latest tech initiatives.