The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons

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...

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,"...

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 shar...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 we...

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...

Airbnb's Global Head of Real Estate, Jesse Stein, joins The Rent Roll podcast to talk conspiracy theories about the impact of short-term rentals on the long-term rental market, real solutions, as well as to share Airbnb's strategy of partnering with apartment owners to empower apartment residents to make their units available for short-term stays. Additionally, host Jay Parsons toasts the retiring Oracle of Omaha — the great Warren Buffett — and shares words of wisdom he wrote about the rent-versus-buy debate back in 2010. Jay also discusses recent headlines on Gen Z renter preferences (and how amenity-rich student housing may be shaping thos...

Multifamily housing construction is slowing — and fast. While current deliveries are putting significant downward pressure on rents, the story could very soon shift from "oversupply" back to "undersupply." Rental housing economist Jay Parsons shares the latest data on apartment starts and completions, and asks: Could YIMBYs be part of the answer in bringing back at least pickup in apartment construction? Certainly, YIMBY-ism is having its moment — maturing from a grassroots effort in California to a national movement that now includes a best-selling book ("Abundance" by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson) to members of the U.S. Congress forming a bipa...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons tackles today's biggest newsmaker: tariffs. What impact are tariffs having on apartment and BTR construction and operations? How much will new starts be impacted? What components are most impacted by tariffs? Jay cuts through the noise and hot air to share five observations and insights on the potential impacts of tariffs on multifamily and build-to-rent housing. Jay also breaks down recent headlines speculating about the impact on rents, and explains why the current narrative is likely wrong. Additionally, Jay welcomes in two executives — Scott Villani and Dan Hull -- from one of the nation's la...

Rental housing economist Jay Parsons breaks down the latest and freshest data on the U.S. apartment market — including supply (on the decline), demand (on the rise) and rents (ticking back upward). What's driving the improvement and how is the outlook changing given recent noise around the economy? Cortland's EVP and Head of Research, Lee Everett, joins the podcast to share his perspective on the market — and why apartments may be well positioned for the road ahead relative to alternatives. Jay and Lee also share expectations for rent growth in 2025 and 2026 as supply drops off. When will rent growth retur...