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.
