Property giant Greystar has overtaken Mid-America Apartments as the nation’s largest apartment owner after adding nearly 10,000 new units to its portfolio last year, according to the latest ranking from an industry trade group.
Greystar’s expansion to ownership of 108,566 units stems from acquisition and development, the Charleston, South Carolina-based company told CoStar News. Its development pipeline that included construction on 9,151 units in 2023 landed Greystar atop the National Multifamily Housing Council's list of largest developers as well. Development was mostly in the Sun Belt, including more than 1,600 units in Florida, with the rest spread across California, Maryland, Hawaii, and Pennsylvania.
The rankings come as industry concerns over a flood of new supply have emerged along with slowing rent growth, particularly in the Sun Belt. According to a report from CoStar Group's Apartments.com, the United States added 565,000 units in 2023, a 40-year high. An additional 443,000 rental units are on the way, mostly in the first half of 2024.
In a sweep of major categories, Greystar is also the nation's largest apartment manager, overseeing 798,272 units, according to NMHC counts from the end of 2023. That number does not include a strategic partnership between Greystar and Wood Partners that saw the company take control of Wood’s property management business. When the partnership was announced in February, Greystar said the deal brought its total units under management to more than 895,000 across roughly 3,200 communities.
“This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our exceptional team and all our great partners who have supported us along this journey,” Bob Faith, CEO of Greystar, said in an emailed statement to CoStar News.
Mid-America Apartments, known as MAA, has been ranked the top apartment owner by the trade group in six of the past seven years, briefly giving up the title to Starwood Capital Group in 2022 before regaining its position in 2023. MAA, based in Germantown, Tennessee, owns 100,894 units across the United States, second in the trade group's ranking, after adding more than 1,200 units to its portfolio this past year. The company is delaying the start of several projects as it buys properties in the Sun Belt, where it’s finding discounted prices.
Morgan Properties, Nuveen, and AvalonBay Communities rounded out the top five apartment owners by unit count. Nuveen made the biggest jump from number seven on NMHC’s list in 2023 to number four this year after adding more than 11,000 units to its portfolio.
Newcomers to the list include AIR Communities, ranked 46th with more than 27,000 units, and Fairstead, the last entry with nearly 26,000 units.
‘Cautiously Optimistic’
Together the companies on NMHC’s list of 50 largest apartment owners control nearly 2.5 million units or roughly 10% of the apartment stock in the United States. Its top 50 managers oversee nearly 20% of the nation’s apartments, amounting to more than 4.7 million units.
“2023 was clearly a challenging year for many rental housing providers, builders and managers due to economic uncertainty, interest rate hikes, and rising uncontrollable costs such as insurance, construction costs, wages and local and state property taxes,” Sharon Wilson Géno, NMHC’s president, said in a statement. “That being said, we are cautiously optimistic for 2024 and beyond. Given the housing shortage across the United States, the need for rental housing remains strong.”
NMHC estimates the United States needs to build 4.3 million additional apartments by 2035 to meet renter demand.
Summit Contacting Group, based in Jacksonville, Florida, topped NMHC’s list of top builders after it started construction on 12,467 units in 2023.
NMHC’s 2024 lists mark the 35th edition of the annual standings. The industry group invites all apartment developers and builders to participate in the survey about company activities in the prior year.