The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons

Is there demand for family-friendly, Class A apartments? Bobby Fijan — aka the "Bill James of apartment floorplans" — joins the podcast to make the case. Bobby partnered with Arnold Ventures on a first-of-its-kind, in-depth study on family-friendly apartments. Will people pay for luxury apartments suitable for kids? Why are so few apartments today built with families in mind? What makes a "family-friendly" apartment? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons walks through the findings with Bobby. Jay also tees up a Rental Housing Trivia question centered on the increased prevalence of smaller units targeted for single, child-less adults. Additionally, Jay breaks down a busy week of headlines touching on rental housing policy issues across the country.

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons reviews the current state of affairs in the single-family rental market, sharing the latest data and trends. Is the ice-cold homebuyer market causing a big boom in SFR? Not exactly, but the SFR market is holding up fine — underscoring its lower-volatility nature. Additionally, Jay welcomes in this week's special guest, Scott Eisen. Scott is the chief investment officer and executive vice president at one of the nation's largest SFR owners, Invitation Homes. Jay and Scott talk about myths versus realities in the SFR market, and delve into Invitation Homes' growth strategy. How active is Invitation as a buyer on the MLS versus building and buying new build-to-rent homes? How eager are homebuilders to sell "excess inventory" to SFR owners at a time when many would-be homebuyers are sidelined? And as usual, Jay brings back recurring segments like "In the News" and "Rental Housing Trivia."

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons makes the case for why rate cuts make sense — and how the government's inflation measure may have masked the earlier cooldown in inflation, in addition to recent downward revisions in job growth. Additionally, Jay welcomes in the head of the Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy — named for the long-time CEO of Trammell Crow Residential — to talk pro-housing policy. Will the White House declare a "national housing emergency" as reported, and if so, what does that mean for apartment and SFR investors and developers? How do we solve for the growing shortage in affordable housing, including properties with expiring tax credits? Should the federal government do more to dictate terms for LIHTC in ways that make the program more efficient and productive? What other housing policies can help move the needle on housing affordability and housing availability? Also in the program, Jay reviews a slew of new headlines touching on rental housing issues, including a big report highlighting how SFR helps diversify neighborhoods, a survey on the impact of immigration agents visiting construction sites, and a review of Amazon's efforts to build affordable housing in their key employment markets. 

What's the latest on multifamily capital markets? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares the latest data on apartment sales, cap rates and debt trends before welcoming in the chief economist of MSCI Real Assets, Jim Costello. Jim and Jay discuss potential distress in the apartment sector, the lack of development capital, the influx of debt funds, and the current buy box for institutional capital. And when do we see apartment sales transactions finally start to take off again? Additionally, it was a busy news week — with lots of headlines to cover for the "In the News" segment, including a possible ballot measure to bring back rent control in Massachusetts. 

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons welcomes in TruAmerica's Matt Ferrari to talk about his recent trek to the summit of Earth's highest mountain top (Mount Everest) ... and also dive into the current state of the multifamily acquisitions market. Matt summited Mount Everest in May, and shares the remarkable level of prep ahead of the journey ... as well as nail-biting deals of the trip to nearly 30,000 feet above sea level. Later in this week's conversation, Jay and Matt shift gears and talk shop. TruAmerica is one of the relatively few firms that remains an active apartment buyer right now. Where are they finding value right now, and how are they able to remain active when most others cannot? In particular, Jay and Matt discuss how the right value-add deals can still work. Additionally, Jay brings back recurring segments like "In the News," "New Digs," and "Rental Housing Trivia."

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons welcomes in the nation's leading voice on rental housing tax policy, Michael Novogradac of Novogradac & Co., to talk about the One Big Beautiful Bill and its potential impact on housing and on affordable housing construction, specifically. Michael had testified to both the House and Senate about housing issues prior to the bill passing, so now looking back, how would he grade the bill specifically on housing policy? Additionally, Jay shares a groundbreaking new study by former professors at Harvard and UC-Berkeley examining a very timely question: How do tenant protections like "just cause eviction," right-to-counsel and source-of-income laws impact rents? And as usual, Jay brings back recurring podcast segments like "In the News" and "Rental Housing Trivia."

What do most GPs need right now but relatively few can find? LP equity! Special guest Dan Meader — founder and managing partner at Trinity Investors, a leading LP in the rental housing space with roughly 22,000 units — joins the podcast to talk LP equity. What are LP investors looking for in apartment and SFR deals? What are they looking for in a GP, and how can LPs best court them? Additionally in this episode, Jay breaks down the latest Census data on multifamily housing starts. The Census is showing a very strong rebound in starts in June and July. Jay shares some empirical evidence to challenge the Census data, and instead suggests starts remain soft — leveling off at best. Additionally, Jay brings back recurring segments like "In the News" and "Rental Housing Trivia."

It's apartment REIT week on The Rent Roll podcast, as economist Jay Parsons shares his top 5 takeaways from the Q2 2025 earnings calls. In particular: What are REITs doing to add value amidst this era of high supply and flat-to-falling new lease rents? REITs shared some insights into their strategies on renovations, expense control, retention and technology. Additionally, Jay welcomes in REIT guru and analyst Rich Hightower, the managing director for U.S. REIT research at Barclays. Rich and Jay talk about how Wall Street views the multifamily REITs today, why the public markets value apartments less than the private market, and why we've seen more apartment REITs taken private than we've seen go public in recent decades. Jay also shares his take on the latest REIT exit, with Elme Communities selling off a large chunk of assets to Cortland. Also in this episode, Jay brings back recurring segments of Rental Housing Trivia and In the News.

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares his top 5 takeaways from the single-family REITs' earnings calls last week — AMH and Invitation Homes. Are the SFR players still focused on building BTR? Are they buying off the MLS again? What impact are they seeing from the reduced number of first-time homebuyers? And is new lease rent growth — which has been soft — showing signs of rebounding? Additionally, Jay welcomes in Amherst Chairman and CEO Sean Dobson for an extended conversation on the state of the SFR industry. As one of the early players in the institutional SFR market, Sean shares his perspective on how and why narratives devolved into myths and conspiracy theories. What can and should operators do to push back against false narratives? Additionally, Jay and Sean talk about the current leasing environment, the role of build-to-rent supply is slowing rent growth, and the long-term need for quality single-family rentals to help address the housing crisis. Furthermore, Jay brings back recurring segments like "In the News" and "Rental Housing Trivia."

Why is apartment rent growth slowing down again? That's the big plot twist in the latest data on the U.S. apartment market. Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives into that question and much more in this Q3 2025 Apartment Market Update and Outlook. Later in the program, Jay welcomes in CBRE's Americas head of multifamily research, Matt Vance. Jay and Matt chat about what is driving the current slowdown in rent growth, while also highlighting the continued strong demand, improved affordability trends and low turnover. And what markets could recover first, particularly among the high-supplied Sun Belt and Mountain markets? Jay and Matt also talk about the state of the multifamily capital markets, and when we'll see all that much-discussed dry powder drive sales volumes back up. Additionally, Jay reviews the latest headlines in rental housing — including some major news on the single-family rental market — and offers up another edition of "Rental Housing Trivia."

It's the valuation edition, featuring Cushman & Wakefield's head of valuation and advisory for the living sector, Zach Bowyer. Jay and Zach discuss where asset values are today (for apartments and SFR) compared to the peak, and how much interest rates play a role in the decline relative to the rent and NOI slowdown. Jay asks Zach to opine on how he thinks about values, what most of us laypeople get wrong about valuation, and his thoughts on where values go from here. Additionally, in the "Here's a Chart" segment, Jay breaks down why the latest Census data on multifamily starts appears highly suspect, as well as the big story on CPI inflation not getting enough attention right now. Jay also reviews the latest headlines impacting multifamily and SFR, including news about the potential launch of a new apartment REIT.

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons is joined by commercial real estate journalist Hiten Samtani for a hearty discussion on how the media covers apartments and single-family rentals. Jay and Hiten talk about the "lost art of beat reporting," with relatively short tenures on the housing beat, and how that impacts rental housing coverage. Hiten also challenges rental housing owners to call out the bad apples from their bunch, and the two then commiserate on something the media and housing industries share in common: public images tainted by the small share of bad actors. Hiten also shares some advice: How can apartment and SFR owners and managers proactively work to combat misleading headlines, or should they just ignore it? Additionally, Jay brings back recurring segments like Here's a Chart, Rental Housing Trivia and In the News.

American Homes 4 Rent CEO Bryan Smith joins rental housing economist Jay Parsons on the podcast to reflect back on the early years of institutional single-family rentals, and how AMH became one of the leading players in the still-small institutional SFR market. How much have the initial strategies held up since AMH's 2013 IPO? You might be surprised to find it's quite a lot -- from target demographics to asset types to centralized operating strategies. Bryan also shares what drove AMH to move away from buying individual homes, and shift heavily into building new BTR homes. Jay and Bryan also talk about expansion markets, as well as how a healthier homebuyer market could benefit the rental housing business. Additionally, Jay reviews headlines impacting rental housing — including California legislation weakening NIMBYs' abilities to block new housing, as well as implications of the New York City mayoral race on apartments.

Waterton co-founder, CEO and Chairman David Schwartz joins The Rent Roll podcast to talk contrarian apartment investing strategies with rental housing economist Jay Parsons. David shares his story getting into the multifamily industry in the 1980s amidst a period of economic turmoil combined with unfavorable views of apartments. He played key roles at then-emerging names like AMLI and Equity Residential before co-founding Waterton, where he's built a business around investing in out-of-favor markets. David and Jay talk about how a market can be favorable one day and then unfavorable the next, and also discuss the difference between a smart contrarian strategy versus a wild bet. Additionally, Jay breaks down the latest headlines in multifamily and SFR, while also opening up the history books for this week's Rental Housing Trivia.

Is the U.S. apartment market slowing down? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives into the data to evaluate whether apartment owners and managers should be concerned. Why is rent growth moderating again and concessions ticking back up if demand remains strong, occupancy is holding steady, supply is declining and renter rent-to-income ratios are improving? And in the second half of this episode, Jay welcomes in David Todd, the CEO of Maymont Homes, the single-family rental platform owned by Brookfield Asset Management. David opens up the hood on Maymont's proprietary model to identify markets for investment. Also, Jay and David talk about why SFR operators would benefit from a stronger for-sale housing market. Additionally, Jay brings back recurring segments like "In the News" and "Rental Housing Trivia."

The man's alter ego is the famed CRE Analyst account with more than 90,000 followers — James Ray, the co-founder of CRE Analyst and a managing director at MetLife. James joins rental housing economist Jay Parsons to make his case for why "cap rates are B.S.," why the wall of maturities is overblown, explains why the "buy versus build" debate isn't as simply as often portrayed, and shares how institutional investors are thinking about multifamily, single-family rentals and build-to-rent homes right now.  Additionally, James shares the remarkable story of what drives his passion for training up the next generation through CRE Analyst and through teaching in higher education — sharing how his childhood bouncing around between trailer parks shaped him for roles on Wall Street managing commercial real estate portfolios and on Zoom calls training up the next generation of CRE leaders. Additionally, Jay breaks down the latest data on apartment rents — and offers up a theory on why rent growth has slowed back down despite continued strong demand, stable occupancy and improving affordability. Jay also brings back recurring segments like "Rental Housing Trivia" and "In the News."

To fee or not to fee? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons tackles the hot-button topic of fees for apartment and SFR renters. With short-term rentals and event ticketing sites now rolling fees into all-in pricing, will apartments and single-family rentals be next? Jay talks with BH Management CEO Joanna Zabriskie, who oversees a portfolio of more than 100,000 units, about BH's pilot of all-in pricing. Joanna reveals what happened with leasing traffic and occupancy when fees were rolled into the base rent. The results may be surprising ... and could encourage other operators to follow suit. At the same time: It's important to recognize all-in pricing doesn't make housing more affordable. Also in this podcast: Jay shares highlights from the apartment REITs' presentations for the big NAREIT summer conference – focusing on interesting updates specific to renter demographics and renter financial health.

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares the latest on the real estate fundraising landscape. It's a tough environment right now for multiple reasons. How can GPs make the case for multifamily and SFR? Jay shares some data and talking points that aim to be (semi) helpful, but the reality is it's a challenging market. Alicia Miller, head of U.S. capital markets for Black Salmon, joins the show to share what she's hearing on LP investor sentiment, and also what is resonating with that audience. Additionally, as always, Jay brings back recurring segments like "Rental Housing Trivia" and "In the News," where he gives his take on buzzy headlines around Austin's sluggish tech sector and on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It's all about SFR and BTR in this episode, where rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares his Top 5 takeaways from the single-family REITs' recent earnings calls AND talks build-to-rent opportunities with the one of the nation's most prominent BTR players. Jay shares how the SFR market is seeing some overlapping themes with the apartment sector — including solid performances in Q1, low resident turnover and healthy rental financials. Jay also highlights the SFR REITs' continued pivot away from acquiring individual homes off the MLS and into new construction of rental homes. And in the interview portion of the podcast, Jay welcomes in Branden Lombardi, president of BB Living. Jay and Branden discuss the evolving landscape for BTR development opportunities, including a shift from the exurbs into more suburban infill opportunities. Additionally, Jay brings back recurring features like "In the News" and "Rental Housing Trivia."

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons breaks down earnings call season for the apartment REITs, offering up five big takeaways from what turned out to be a moderately upbeat quarter. Jay shares why REITs continue to see strong fundamentals ... and yet aren't raising guidance. Jay also shares key insights from REIT commentaries on hot topics like renter financial health, low turnover, impact of federal layoffs in D.C., and potential impacts from tariffs. In the second half of the program, Jay welcomes in Alfonso Costa Jr., a former senior official at HUD and now the COO at Falcone Group, a Florida-based developer with a national footprint. Alfonso shares his unique perspective on housing as someone who has served in senior roles in both the public sector and private sector — and offers up thoughts on what could help move the needle again on housing creation. Alfonso also talks about what still works, in terms of new development, in the current high-rate environment. Additionally, Jay brings back recurring segments like "In the News" and "Rental Housing Trivia."