I am going to provide you with a very quick take on the election and what it may mean for real estate in general and our preferred strategy: value-add multifamily.

Had Gov. Mitt Romney won the Nov. 6 presidential election, it would have been marginally positive for office, retail, industrial and apartments, and neutral to marginally negative for the single-family sector. A President Romney would have increased uncertainty in buying a home because of his proposed abandonment of all or part of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policy, which has kept mortgage rates low, and his proposed tax code changes that may have capped or eliminated mortgage deductions.

Obama’s win makes it marginally positive for apartments and single-family housing. However, nothing explosive will happen with single-family unless and until mortgage underwriting standards loosen considerably. That isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. The President’s re-election will be marginal