The largest owner of apartments in the United States was Greystar, an international developer and manager headquartered in Charleston, SC. In 2024, Greystar owned nearly 109,000 units. MAA, a Tennessee-based real estate investment trust, ranked second, with 85,000 apartments owned.
Real estate investment trusts
The majority of the largest owners of apartments in the U.S. are real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are companies who own (and usually operate) income producing real estate. REITs were created in 1960, when the Cigar Excise Tax Extension permitted investment in large-scale diversified real estate portfolios through the purchase and sale of liquid securities. This effectively aligned investment in real estate with other asset classes. In 2023, there were approximately200 REITs in the United States with a market capitalization of 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars.
Apartments in the United States
The rental return for apartments in the U.S. has been steadily climbing in recent times, with the national monthly median rent for an unfurnished apartment steadily increasing since 2012. Over this period, apartment vacancy rates have beendecreasing across the country, suggesting that demand outweighs supply. Accordingly, large-scale investment in apartments by REITs is likely to continue into the foreseeable future.
FAQs
Leading apartment owners in the U.S. 2024, by units owned
Who owns the most rental housing in the US? ›
The largest single-family rental landlords in the US:
- Progress Residential (about 85,000 houses), a privately-held company.
- Invitation Homes (about 80,000 houses), a publicly traded REIT [INVH]. ...
- American Homes 4 Rent (about 60,000 houses), a publicly traded REIT [AMH].
Clark Group, Suffolk Construction, Summit Contracting Group, Whiting-Turner Contracting, and McShane Companies top the ranking of the nation's largest multifamily housing sector contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
What US state has the most apartments? ›
Some of the states with the largest share of apartment dwellers are New York, North Dakota, California, Maryland, Nevada, and Texas. In New York, nearly one quarter of the population lives in an apartment.
What city has the biggest apartments? ›
Tallahassee, FL. The capital of Florida takes the top spot for largest average apartment size in the US. It's known for being home to one of the largest universities in the country – Florida State University.
Who is the largest owner of single-family rental homes in the United States? ›
Invitation Homes Inc is the largest company in the U.S. single-family home rental market. The company is known for its large portfolio of high-quality, updated homes tailored to meet the evolving lifestyle needs of its residents.
Who owns most houses in the USA? ›
- White, non-Hispanic householders account for three-quarters of all owner-occupied housing units in the United States, but just over half of all renter-occupied units. ...
- Renters skew to the lower ends of income and wealth distributions, according to data from the Federal Reserve's 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.
The Charleston, SC-based firm now owns or manages more than one million units. Greystar is now the largest apartment owner in the U.S., snatching the crown from perennial leader Mid-America Apartments (MAA), according to the latest rankings from the National Multifamily Housing Council.
What company owns the most apartments? ›
The largest owner of apartments in the United States was Greystar, an international developer and manager headquartered in Charleston, SC. In 2024, Greystar owned nearly 109,000 units. MAA, a Tennessee-based real estate investment trust, ranked second, with 85,000 apartments owned.
Who is the largest landlord in us? ›
The largest private landowner in the United States is the Emmerson family, which owns and operates Sierra Pacific Industries, one of the largest lumber producers in the country.
The U.S. state with the highest average monthly rent: Hawaii
Hawaii ranked as the state with the highest average rent, according to doxo. In a separate 2023 doxo report, Hawaii was also determined to be the most expensive U.S. state based on the average cost of household bills.
What state has the highest rent in 2024? ›
Hawaii. Hawaii has the highest average rent in the United States at $2,399 a month.
What state is cheapest to live in apartments? ›
Top 5 Cheapest States to Live In for Renters, by Median Rent
- West Virginia – $800.
- Indiana – $862.
- Iowa – $892.
- Arkansas – $934.
- Wisconsin – $954.
New York City has the highest rent at $3,393.
Rent is nearly as high in Boston, MA ($3,359); Irvine, CA ($3,335); San Francisco, CA ($3,276) and San Jose, CA ($3,107).
What is the most expensive city to rent an apartment in? ›
Our analysis shows that San Francisco is the most expensive world city rental market, followed by Dublin, New York, and Los Angeles.
What city has the most apartments per capita? ›
Rounding up the top 20 cities with the most apartment space per person are High Point, NC; Columbus, GA; Omaha, NE; Macon, GA; Hampton, VA; Greensboro, NC; Spokane, WA; Wilmington, NC; North Charleston, SC; and Richmond, VA.
What company owns the most rental properties? ›
The largest owner of apartments in the United States was Greystar, an international developer and manager headquartered in Charleston, SC. In 2024, Greystar owned nearly 109,000 units. MAA, a Tennessee-based real estate investment trust, ranked second, with 85,000 apartments owned.
What is the largest rental company in the United States? ›
1. United Rentals - The largest equipment rental company in the world maintained its perennial position as first on the list in 2022.
How much of U.S. housing is owned by corporations? ›
As of June 2022, the report estimates that roughly 574,000 single-family homes nationwide were owned by institutional investors, defined as entities that owned at least 100 such homes. This comprises 3.8 percent of the 15.1 million single-unit rental properties in the US.
Is BlackRock really buying houses? ›
The truth is that Blackrock has not bought one house. They do not buy houses but there is a similar fund that does buy houses by the name of Blackstone. These are not the same funds nor are they controlled by the same people.
