*UPDATED* (and still true) When you build "luxury" new apartments in big numbers, the influx of supply puts downward pressure on rents at all price points -- even in the lowest-priced Class C rentals. Here's evidence of that happening right now: There are 21 U.S. markets where Class C rents are falling at least 4% YoY. What is the common denominator? You guessed it: Supply. Of those, all but one have supply expansion rates ABOVE the U.S. average. There's no demand issue in any of these 12 markets. They're all among the absorption leaders nationally -- places like Austin, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Raleigh/Durham, Atlanta, Tampa, Dallas, Charlotte, Orlando, etc. But they all have a lot of new supply. Simply put: Supply is doing what it's supposed to do when we build A LOT of apartments. It's a process academics call "filtering." New pricey apartments are pulling up higher-income renters out of moderately priced Class B units, which in turn cut rents to lure Class C renters, and on down the line it goes. Less anyone still in doubt, here's another factoid: Where are Class C rents growing most? You guessed it (I hope!) -- in markets with little new supply. Class C rent growth topped 4% in 22 of the nation's 150 largest metro areas, and nearly all of them have limited new apartment supply. Most new construction tends to be Class A "luxury" because that's what pencils out due to high cost of everything from land to labor to materials to impact fees to insurance to taxes, etc. So critics will say: "We don't need more luxury apartments!" Yes, you do. Because when you build "luxury" apartments at scale, you will put downward pressure on rents at all price points. Spread the word.

Wage growth has now surpassed rent growth for 40 straight months and counting. The gap is particularly wide when you narrow to prime age workers living in apartments or build-to-rent single-family homes.

It's fun to tell people which cities we like and don't like. But people vote with their feet. And our opinions are too often based on that one time we visited the convention center for a couple days. For analysts and investors and policymakers, feet matter more.

Housing is a human right, which makes it critical we focus on proven solutions backed by an abundance of non-partisan academic research -- and not on recycling widely disproven ideas backed only by conspiracy theories. Build more housing.

I'm late to seeing this, but Alliance Residential (4th largest apartment developer) is expanding into the Midwest region, hiring a Kansas City-based lead. Reflects growing institutional interest in Midwest region, which has proven the values of "steady eddies" to balance supply competition in Sun Belt and regulatory headwinds in coastal cities.

If you are drawn to high-risk, low-reward investments, NYC rent stabilized apartments may be for you. Or you could get a high-yield savings account for similar upside but with lesser downside risk.

With spring leasing season now behind us, I think we can declare a verdict: It feels like some sense of balance and stability is returning for the U.S. apartment market. Rent growth YTD has been steady though unspectacular. Below pre-COVID trends, but stronger than past few years. Key driver: Apartment supply (the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 factor pushing down rents these past 3 years) is dropping off fast. Demand is topping supply again, allowing vacancy rates to improve ... though still elevated for now, which keeps concessions high and limits rent growth. The key, though, is the trend: Rents and vacancy are improving at a slow-and-steady pace. Barring an economic shock, it feels like that pattern should continue as operators work to lease up the last big wave of apartment completions (2025 deliveries), and then we might see the pace accelerate.

Remember when San Francisco banned algorithmic rent pricing in fall 2024? They promised at the time that "we're taking action locally to ensure our working renters can afford to live here." Good reminder: It's all about supply and demand, not conspiracy theories.

The best exurbs are those that were standalone small towns before sprawl made them exurbs -- with historic town squares that set them apart from generic suburban sprawl.

It pained me to read this article because it's such a critical topic (and reforms certainly needed) but this article reads more like an unchecked airing of grievances, presents hot takes as unquestioned facts, and takes key details out of context.

NYC says rents in city-controlled co-op will increase due to mortgage and operating costs. Oddly, that reasoning doesn't fly for "greedy landlords.