The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons

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 latest chapter retuning to select Sun Belt markets. Jay in joined in the program by EQR's CEO, Mark Parrell, who worked under the late great Sam Zell beginning in the late 1990s. Mark takes us inside EQR and shares the factors that drove the latest pivot, and why Equity Residential is now building attainable housing on the outskirts of Atlanta — a big shift from high-rises in major coastal cities. Additionally, in this week's "In the News" segment, Jay breaks down the latest headlines and happenings related to the proposed ban on institutional investors in single-family rental homes — and how the latest legislation could effectively crush most build-to-rent construction as well. What could the implications be, and why are housing analysts opposing a bill that was initially intended to boost housing supply?

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 his two sons, Jonathan and Jason Morgan, to co-CEOs to lead the company in its next chapter. Jason Morgan joins The Rent Roll to share his family story, talk about the company's buy box and its focus of late on the Midwest, and to discuss how the company could evolve under a new generation of leadership. Additionally, Jay shares the latest data on apartment sales — including new data showing the return of capital in certain types of submarkets, while capital remains sparse for other types. Jay breaks down those two competing realities in an era where neighborhood — not just MSA — matter more than ever.

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 the pre-existing strategy of selling older homes and recycling capital into new build-to-rent construction. Additionally, Jay shares color from the REITs on slowed leasing and softening rents for the SFR sector broadly, and what that could mean for the 2026 outlook. Additionally, Jay discusses headlines from a busy news week for rental housing — including another multifamily REIT taken private, a potential apartment rent rebound in Austin, and more evidence of the positive impact of new "luxury" supply on rent affordability. Later in the program, Jay welcomes in Principal Asset Management's Rich Hill, senior managing director and global head of real estate research and strategy. Rich and Jay discuss public versus private valuations, where the industry is headed, and where investment opportunities could exist for rental housing over the next cycle. Rich shares his take on single-family rentals, apartments and student housing.

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 approach to the rent control debate — highlighting data, logic and real-life examples over short-form videos on social media in a way that could be a template for others across the country trying to respond to disproven policy ideas. In addition to the conversation with Kenny, Jay Parsons also shares a brief version of New York's 100+ years of rent control, and how continued tightening has only exacerbated challenges for renters. Also in this episode, Jay shares the latest headlines impacting single-family rentals and introduces a new segment to the podcast called "Good News."

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 still muted expectations for rent growth in 2026, the continued strength of New York and San Francisco coupled with lingering challenges in other coastal markets (and related news of Camden exiting California), signs of momentum in the supply-drenched Sun Belt, plus more stock buybacks as REITs continue to trade at big discounts to net asset value. Later in the program, Jay welcomes in REIT analyst Jana Galan from Bank of America Securities. Jana gives her take on the effectiveness of buybacks and how Wall Street investors see apartments today compared to other asset classes, as well as her thoughts on the eventual recovery. Additionally, Jay reviews headlines of the week impacting rental housing, and gives his take on a recent congressional hearing on housing affordability and a potential ban on large investors buying single-family homes.