The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons

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 payoff has been anything but quick. There's still a supply overhang from 2023-25 to work through. Jay also shares the latest data on demand, and explores whether AI and soft job growth has impacted apartment absorption. Additionally, Jay welcomes in Cushman & Wakefield's multifamily research head, Sam Tenenbaum, for an extended conversation on the state of multifamily fundamentals and capital markets. Sam shares his take on the state of the apartment market across the U.S. Also, Jay shares his take on the latest headlines impacting apartments and single-family rentals — including another big platform sale plus the passing of one of multifamily's biggest names.

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, investors and lending are pausing new BTR projects. And that pause may last a while due to uncertainty around the bill's future, as well as hastily written language that leaves critical rules open interpretation by regulators after passage. One of the nation's largest BTR developers, Quinn Residences, is seeing that immediate impact firsthand. Quinn CEO Richard Ross joins the podcast to share real-time intel on the legislation's impact to BTR, and why the bill's proponents misunderstand key details about the sector. Richard directly addresses the popular myth that BTR developers would be building for-sale homes if they weren't building rentals, and shares why that is wrong. Additionally, pro-housing advocate Mike Kingsella — one of the leading voices on housing policy in D.C. through his organization Up For Growth — joins the podcast to share the latest intel on the bill's outlook on Capitol Hill, and also shares advice on what strategies and messages are best resonating with legislators. Furthermore, Jay shares the latest news on how the regulatory spotlight is already expanding from BTR to apartments and manufactured housing, as well, via threatening letters sent to the leading rental housing owners.

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 comprises a huge chunk of the nation's apartment market. Jay reviews the latest trends on sub-institutional multifamily fundamentals and capital markets, teeing up a conversation with Adaptive Realty's Moses Kagan and ReSeed Partners' Rhett Bennett. Jay, Moses and Rhett talk about opportunities within the sub-institutional market, and what the pair are looking for in their fund investing in sub-institutional operators across the country.

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 rent declines associated with the highest supply wave since the 1970s. So how do LIHTC affordable housing still make deals work today, even in markets where affordable housings' actual rents are well below allowable rents (set based on incomes)? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons welcomes in Nick Andersen of Dominium, one of the nation's biggest builders of affordable housing to talk myths versus realities — and share tips of the trade on how affordable housing development can still work today. Additionally, on the topic of affordability and mythbusting, Jay shares his two favorite charts from the just-released State of the Nation's Rental Housing report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. And for the "In the News" segment in this episode, Jay breaks down the latest on the federal government's attempt to ban large investors from buying or building single-family rental homes.

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?