The Rent Roll hits the road for its first episode in front of a live audience! Rental housing economist Jay Parsons interviews the executive leadership of apartment developer JPI — CEO Payton Mayes, CFO/CIO Mollie Fadule and chief of construction and design Kyley Harvey. The group discusses the case for building apartments now, impediments to getting new projects started, expansion into new markets and the impact of tariffs and immigration policy on construction. Additionally, Jay lays out the latest data on apartment construction. When does supply finally taper off, and when could rent growth rebound? How does supply timing differ by market? Jay also tackles a handful of headlines in this week's "In the News" section, including recent articles on "accidental landlords," rental registries, the curious evaporation of investor interest in building in Los Angeles, and the potential impact of TOPA reform in Washington, D.C.

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."