During a year unlike any other, the nation’s multifamily industry, notwithstanding exceptional circumstances, remains a stable and attractive sector as demonstrated by the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) just released 2021 NMHC 50, the sector’s chief ranking of the nation's largest apartment owners, managers, developers, builders and syndicators.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the related economic weakening, the multifamily industry and the sector’s fundamentals were as healthy as they had been in years. However, the onset of the pandemic led to the worst economic disruption in decades. With stay-at-home orders, eviction moratoriums and other difficulties, the industry faced immediate market deteriorations. Over the course of 2020 though, investors returned from the sidelines, reflecting both confidence in the industry’s long-term fundamentals and a positive outlook for the apartment industry going forward.
While the pandemic is not yet over, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The 2021 NMHC 50 highlights the industry optimism in its future as well as the resiliency that carried it through a deeply trying year.
MAA (headquartered in Germantown, Tenn.) stayed atop the list of the country’s largest apartment owners with 100,490 apartment homes owned, breaking the 100,000-unit mark for the third consecutive year.
Greystar Real Estate Partners (headquartered in Charleston, S.C.) remained the largest apartment manager with 669,137 apartments under their management, more than triple the next firm on the list.
Greystar Real Estate Partners (headquartered in Charleston, S.C.) took the top spot of largest apartment developer with 8,525 apartments started in 2020.
Summit Contracting Group, Inc. (headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla.) kept their spot as the country’s highest-producing apartment builder, starting 9,159 apartments in 2020, over 1,400 more units than the next builder on the list.
Boston Financial Investment Management, LP (headquartered in Boston, Mass.) rose from eighth place in 2020 to become the nation’s largest apartment tax credit syndicator with 186,785 apartments syndicated in 2021.
“The initial onset of the pandemic and resulting financial distress was deeply concerning for the health of the industry. However, despite initial fears, the multifamily sector experienced a sharp rebound after the second quarter,” said Caitlin Sugrue Walter, Vice President of Research for the National Multifamily Housing Council. “That positive trend continues today as shown by growth in deal flow. The recovery is not yet complete, but the industry is well-placed for a strong 2021.”
Additional Industry and NMHC 50 Highlights:
- 2,318,732 – Number of total units owned by NMHC 50 top owners, representing 9.9 percent of the total U.S. apartment stock.
- 3,899,797 – Number of units collectively managed by NMHC 50 top managers.
- 95.6 percent – 2020 apartment occupancy rate according to RealPage, down only 20 bps from the previous year.
- 364,600 – Number of apartments completed in 2020 according to the Census Bureau.
- $138.7 billion – Total multifamily transaction volume in 2020 according to Real Capital Analytics.
This is the 32nd annual edition of the NMHC 50 rankings. NMHC partners with Kingsley (a Grace Hill Company), a leading real estate research and consulting firm, to conduct the research for the NMHC 50. All apartment owners, managers, developers, builders and syndicators are invited to answer a survey questionnaire that asks about their prior year's activities. Apartment owners, managers and syndicators are ranked based on their portfolio holdings (either owned, managed or syndicated) as of January 1, 2021 while developers and builders are ranked based on the number of apartment units started in 2020.
View the full rankings here: nmhc.org/50
Based in Washington, D.C., the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) is the leadership of the trillion-dollar apartment industry. We bring together the prominent apartment owners, managers and developers who help create thriving communities by providing apartment homes for 40 million Americans. NMHC provides a forum for insight, advocacy and action that enables both members and the communities they help build to thrive. For more information, contact NMHC at 202/974-2300, email the Council at info@nmhc.org.
Kingsley (a Grace Hill company) helps real estate leaders maximize portfolio and organizational performance. Our comprehensive suite of research and benchmarking tools assess company performance and competitive position based on direct feedback from key stakeholders. This includes resident and tenant experience surveys, employee engagement surveys, client/investor surveys, and peer benchmarking through the Kingsley Index ™, which is the largest database of customer satisfaction and performance-based metrics in the real estate industry. For more information, visit gracehill.com/products/kingsleysurveys, or email John Falco (jfalco@gracehill.com).
