Apartment REIT Dynamics and Rent Control Challenges

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.