U.S. Apartment REITs "Monthly Rent Check - May 2026" Goldsmith

Research evidence excerpt

U.S. Apartment REITs "Monthly Rent Check - May 2026" Goldsmith

Global Research

26 May 2026ab

U.S. Apartment REITs Equities

AmericasMonthly Rent Check - May 2026

Real Estate

Michael Goldsmith

May 2026 results started to close the gap to 2025 Analyst

The national multifamily seasonal acceleration in asking rent growth was generally in michael.goldsmith@ubs.com

line with historical levels in May 2026, according to CoStar. Specifically, rents indexed to +1-212-713 2951

the start of the year as of May 2026 increased by 1.3%. This was below the May 2025 Ami Probandt

level by -2 bps and below May 2019 by -30 bps. This reflects a closing of the gap to Analyst

2025. For context, in April 2026, YTD rent growth had trailed the same period in 2025 ami.probandt@ubs.com

by -10 bps. Note that CoStar measures asking rent, and concession usage may be +1-212-713 2078

resulting in softer effective rent growth. The strongest markets remain Northern CA and Justin Haasbeek

NY, as expected. Markets that have lagged include Seattle, LA, and the higher supply Associate Analyst

Sunbelt MSAs. justin.haasbeek@ubs.com

+1-212-713 2014

As for specific REITs, ESS and AVB have had strong starts to the year relative to 2025. Connor Mitchell

EQR has been trending modestly above historical levels so far in 2026. UDR and MAA Associate Analyst

connor.mitchell@ubs.com

have both had softer then normal starts to 2026 (no data available for CPT). Notably,

+1-212-649 8246

UDR's spread to 2025 narrowed considerably in May compared with April which we

think highlights the choppiness in month-to-month trends. On average, the REITs have Anna O'Neil

delivered asking rent growth which is ahead of the 2025 trend with ESS' strength a key Associate Analyst

anna.oneil@ubs.com

factor.