Lessors of Residential Buildings NAICS 531110

Sep 18, 2025 - RealPage Pushes Back on Allegations

• RealPage, a software firm serving 24 million rental units globally, is pushing back against mounting legal and regulatory scrutiny over its AI Revenue Management platform, according to Bisnow. Accused by the US Department of Justice and 10 state attorneys general of enabling rent collusion among landlords, RealPage faces a federal antitrust suit and over 30 consolidated civil cases. Some local governments have imposed ordinances banning algorithmic rent-setting, prompting RealPage to adjust its tools and challenge some laws in court. The company denies facilitating price-fixing, arguing its software merely offers rent suggestions. Despite settlements with major landlords and growing legislative pressure, no court has ruled definitively on the merits of the claims. RealPage maintains that its platform is lawful and beneficial, signaling readiness to litigate and defend its practices amid a patchwork of mounting regulations.
• In the second quarter of 2025, there were about 12,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) housing starts in the US, down 52% from the same period in 2024, according to National Association of Home Builders analysis of US Census Bureau data. During the four most recent quarters, 71,000 SFBFR homes began construction, down 16% compared to how many were built in the previous four-quarter period. While the historical four-quarter moving average market share for SFBFR is about 2.7% (1992-2012), SFBFR’s current share of the overall single-family market is about 7%. Single-family built-for-rent homes provide an alternative for consumers who want more space but are challenged by a lack of affordable housing inventory and downpayment requirements in the for-sale market. However, SFBFR housing starts have slowed as high financing costs have reduced development activity.

• So far in 2025, small investors are playing an outsized role in the U.S. single-family housing market, according to The Wall Street Journal. In the first half of 2025, small investors accounted for about 25% of home purchases, outpacing large institutional buyers, according to property analytics firm Cotality. While traditional home buyers remain sidelined by high home prices and interest rates, small investors are capitalizing on seller incentives. Unlike large firms constrained by institutional reporting, smaller investors can take greater risks and are increasingly targeting mid-priced homes to renovate and rent. An uptick in the percentage of homes sold to small investors could boost demand for residential remodeling as investors buy and fix up homes for flipping or renting.
• Renters were the sole driver of the rise in household formations in the second quarter of 2025, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). In Q2 2025, the total number of US households increased to 132.5 million, up by 1.2 million compared to 131.3 million in the second quarter of 2024. The increase in new households was entirely driven by renters, amid the lowest homeownership rate since 2019. US homeownership fell to 65% of total households in Q2 2025 and was 4.2 percentage points below the 25-year average of 66.3%. High home prices, elevated mortgage rates, and low inventories have pushed housing affordability to the lowest level in decades.