The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons

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 see concessions burn off and rent growth rebound. RealPage Chief Economist Carl Whitaker joins the podcast to share his take on the 2026 outlook, particularly around demand drivers given increased uncertainty in the economy. Reduced supply is a given in 2026, but what about demand? And how long will it take to lease up the surge of supply that completed in 2024 and 2025? Additionally, Jay breaks down the latest headlines impacting apartments and single-family rentals, as well as teeing up another edition of "Rental Housing Trivia."

Institutional investors in single-family rentals are suddenly front-page news thanks to President Trump's proposed ban on institutions buying houses. But what does the data and academic research tell us about institutions' impact on home prices, home sales, homeownership, rents and on neighborhoods? And how do those impacts vary in the parts of the country with heavier concentrations of institutional investors? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons breaks down the 10 most common myths we're hearing about institutional investors in single-family housing, and responds to each one with data from academic papers, renter surveys and leading data sources. And to help further the conversation, Jay welcomes in an academic who just published an award-winning, peer-reviewed paper on the impact of institutional investors in housing — Dr. Joshua Coven, a professor at Baruch College in New York City. Professor Coven shares three major takeaways from his study published last year. Additionally, Jay shares his thoughts on the latest headlines touching on apartments and single-family rentals during the "In the News" segment, including high concessions for apartments in Phoenix and other Sun Belt cities.

What's the latest in the single-family rental and build-to-rent market? The sectors are drawing a lot of attention right now, driven by widening discount to rent versus buy. But that isn't translating into improved leasing velocity or rent growth for SFR operators. Why not? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons explains, and outlines what might play out this year. Additionally, Jay shares his take on President Trump's announcement that he will pursue a ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes. Later in the program, Jay welcomes in one of the nation's early pioneers in BTR development — Josh Hartmann, the CEO of NexMetro. Josh shares the great story of how Phoenix became the epicenter of the BTR boom, and gives his take on the sector's future direction. As always, Jay brings back recurring segments like "In the News" (where Jay breaks down a recent article on the sluggish condo market, among other headlines) and "Rental Housing Trivia."

It's predictions time! Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares 15 predictions for apartments and single-family rentals in 2026 — including his take that apartment absorption could drop off even if job market rallies, and Jay explains why that's not necessarily a bad signal for the sector. Jay also shares his takes on the impact of immigration policy, the outlook for apartment and SFR rents, and what role distress might play in the capital markets. In addition, the main event of this episode is our guest, the one and only John Burns — the founder and CEO of John Burns Research & Consulting. John shares his take on the 2026 outlook for home sales and for rental housing, and why 2026 could be a "boring year" in his words. Additionally, Jay shares the latest headlines touching on rental housing, including a big article from Bloomberg on how "luxury" apartments and pushing down rents even for lower-income renters.

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons rolls back the tape on his 10 predictions for the apartment and single-family rental market in 2025. What played out as expected, and where did he miss? It turns out there was a common theme among the two big "misses." In the second half of the program, Jay welcomes in Newmark's managing director and head of multifamily capital markets research, Mike Wolfson. Mike shares his own thoughts on how 2025 played out versus expectations, then Jay and Mike discuss the capital markets environment going into 2026. What's driving the return of debt capital back into apartments, and what impact has that had on transactions? Deal flow increased moderately in 2025, but what would it take to get further acceleration in 2026? And where's all that distress we've been hearing is constantly on the horizon? Also, as always, Jay brings back recurring segments like "Rental Housing Trivia" and "In the News," where he shares a surprisingly insightful story from The Wall Street Journal, as well as another headline about the winddown of an apartment REIT that once ranked as the nation's largest apartment owner.