The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons

Midway through 2026, how is the year playing out relative to expectations for the U.S. apartment market? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons lays out the latest data and trends on supply, demand, occupancy, rents, affordability and much more. One pleasant surprise: Apartment absorption came in hotter than expected in the first half of 2026, leading to the best occupancy improvement since 2021, ac...

When will the apartment market rebound from the highest supply wave since the 1970s? When will rents recover and concessions burn off and occupancy rates stabilize. In search of an answer, rental housing economist Jay Parsons makes the case for the most oft-dismissed trope in economics: "It depends." In defense of "it depends," Jay shares real data highlighting the how the reco...

The ROAD to Housing Act finally got through Congress this week, only to then hit an unexpected roadblock with the White House, as the President cancelled a planned bill signing ceremony — extending the cloud of uncertainty over the single-family rental and build-to-rent industries. But what's in this bill, and how would it impact rental housing, should it eventually become law? Rental housing...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives deep with UDR, America's longest-running apartment REIT, sharing the story from UDR's founding as a small Virginia operator in the 1970s to its growth into an S&P 500 company — and the many turns along the way. UDR's chief financial officer, David Bragg, joins the podcast and covers a wide range of topics from thoughts on the AvalonBay/Equ...

It's one of the largest apartment owners in the U.S., yet still often suffers from a case of mistaken identity: Berkshire. As in Berkshire Residential Investments, not Berkshire Hathaway. The two are not related, yet both companies track back 60+ years with names originating from the same part of the country. Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares the story of the "other" Berksh...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons breaks down the realities of today's multifamily market: Debt is readily available, but equity is not ... unless it's preferred equity. Jay shares the latest data, including the historic spike in apartment loan originations, and explains why that might trigger some institutions to shift back toward equity strategies. Later in the program, Jay is joined...

Is it better to manage properties in house, or to outsource to a third-party manager? It's an age-old question, and there's no one-size-fits-all answer. But there's no doubt that we continue to see far more consolidation in the management business than we do in property ownership. Why is that? Lantower Residential COO Emily Watson joins the podcast to share her experience, and talks ab...

It's a very tough environment for apartment developers to get new projects started these days, with starts cut in half from 2022's peak levels. So what are the common denominators for projects breaking ground of late? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives into the data and shares five common themes among projects that are still working today even amidst softer rents and higher cost of...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares his top four takeaways from the single-family rental REITs' Q1'26 earnings calls — including how they're navigating heightened regulatory risk surrounding the ROAD to Housing Act, why stock buybacks are now preferred over investing in new development, how leasing activity is picking up this spring after a slow fall and winter, and much more....

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons recaps his six big takeaways from the apartment REITs' first quarter earnings calls that just wrapped up — starting with the big news that leaked after hours, the rumored merger discussions between AvalonBay and Equity Residential. What would be the implications of merging two of the biggest names in multifamily? Jay also shares color and highlights from th...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons breaks down the latest data on spring leasing trends, explains why supply is still a headwind even as completions decline, and answers the popular question: Why do different data providers show very different numbers for apartment occupancy right now? Additionally, Jay shares the latest buzz on Congress' potential ban on build-to-rent construction and singl...

What markets don't get the attention they might deserve? There's no "right answer," but rental housing economist Jay Parsons attempts to make such a list — highlighting markets that have outperformed the national averages on long-term rent growth and volatility, while not ranking among the top markets favored by institutional capital. Additionally, Jay welcomes in the founder and...

Terry Considine has nothing to prove. He has launched multiple REITs, including one (Aimco) that was at one point the nation's largest apartment owner. He sold a spin-off REIT (AIR Communities) to Blackstone. But even after that exit and 4+ decades in the apartment business, Terry Considine isn't done — now steering his latest apartment venture, Big 4 Properties. In this episode with host...

Did the U.S. apartment sector see a March bounce for the start to leasing season? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons breaks down newly released data on apartment supply, demand and rents — and paints a picture of a market that is recovering, but at a plodding pace. For apartment investors and operators, the good news is that the chief headwind (supply) is largely in the rearview mirror. But the...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives into the bizarrely regressive legislation that would effectively block most build-to-rent single-family home construction. In fact, as Jay shares, the legislation is already having a devastating impact on the BTR pipeline, even prior to the legislation's passage, due to sudden uncertainty around the sector's regulatory viability. Already, investor...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons covers a busy week of headlines related to apartments and single-family rentals — including another major apartment portfolio trade plus the latest on the proposed ban on institutional SFR investors. But the focus of this week's podcast is the sub-institutional multifamily. Small multifamily rarely gets the attention given to institutional multifamily, yet...

There are no shortages of false narratives about affordable housing. From the buildings to the renters who live in them, they rarely match the public narratives about them. And also: Just because a developer can get tax credits to build affordable housing doesn't make it easier, either — especially in higher-supplied markets where affordable rents are colliding with market-rate rents due to re...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives into the remarkable story of Equity Residential, starting with two fraternity brothers at the University of Michigan in the 1960s through its IPO in the 1990s, its scaling to 225,000 units in 2001 (which included investments in 36 states, in affordable housing and in ranch-style apartments) to its shift to focus entirely in coastal urban markets to its la...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives into the multifamily industry's biggest family business, Morgan Properties. Started in the mid-1980s when Mitchell Morgan acquired three apartment communities in suburban Philadelphia with a dollar down, Morgan's portfolio has since grown to 110,000+ units — making Morgan the No. 2 largest apartment owner in the country. Mitchell recently promoted...

After avoiding public comment for weeks after the White House announced it proposed ban on institutional investors buying homes, the single-family rental REITs now enter the spotlight for earnings call season. How are they responding? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares the answer as part of his seven takeaways from the SFR REITs' recent earnings calls. One key: Increased emphasis on t...

As New York City's new mayor pushes a rent freeze on the city's beleaguered rent stabilized apartments, a new voice is emerging from the landlord side — and it happens to be the guy who sat next to Zohran Mamdani in the New York state legislature. Meet Kenny Burgos, a former state legislator who is now the CEO of the New York Apartment Association. Kenny has taken a fresh, pragmatic approa...

The big six apartment REITs just wrapped up their Q4 2025 earnings calls. Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares the seven key themes and takeaways from those calls — and what these trends might mean for the broader multifamily market. Those themes include improvement in multifamily fundamentals headed into the spring leasing season (including some initial reduction in concessions) and yet st...

What was the sentiment at the apartment industry's biggest annual get-together, the National Multifamily Housing Council's Annual Meeting? Rental housing economist shares his take on the pulse of the market as part of hig Top 5 takeaways from the event in Las Vegas. In particular, Jay shares color and insights on the wide availability of debt capital, and what implications that's havin...

We've been hearing about the so-called wall of maturities and looming distress in multifamily for a couple years now. So, where is it? When will it show it up? What could it look like, and what implications could it have (or not have) on the broader multifamily market? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares the latest on apartment distress, and how we could be seeing a mismatch between ca...

What's the latest on the U.S. apartment market? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares fresh data and commentary on multifamily fundamentals across the country — and notes it's no longer as clean-cut as coastal versus Sun Belt. Jay breaks down the key performance indicators from supply and demand to occupancy and rent, hunting for green shoots and giving perspective on when we could s...