Apartment REITs: RBC MultiTracker for May 2026

Research evidence excerpt

Apartment REITs: RBC MultiTracker for May 2026

RBC Capital Markets, LLC

Brad Heffern, CFA (Analyst)

(512) 708-6311,

brad.heffern@rbccm.com

Michael Carroll, CFA (Head

of US Real Estate Research)

(440) 715-2649,

michael.carroll@rbccm.com

June 9, 2026 Patrick Fox, CFA (AVP)

(512) 708-6342,

patrick.j.fox@rbccm.com Apartment REITs: RBC MultiTracker for May 2026RESEARCH Our view: We are updating our monthly RBC MultiTracker, covering trends in the multi-family market

for May 2026. Peak leasing season continues to look much more normal than years past, with the sharp

cutoff from 2025 not evident and the Sunbelt no longer being a significant drag on overall asking rent

performance. NorCal remains the best metro in the country by a wide margin, with SF having seen over

7% asking rent growth since the trough in November. However, this strength continues to be partially

offset by continued malaise in L.A. The Northeast also had a solid May, but D.C. again saw pressured

rents. Sunbelt performance looks much more normal than it did in 2023-2025, although concessions

are showing little movement. CSR remains at the top spot in our company rankings given consistentlyEQUITY strong Midwest performance, followed by ESS given the strength in the Bay Area, and then the remaining

coastal names. The Sunbelt names still lag by a decent margin, although they have started to eat into

the gap.

May rents roughly in line with normal. Average asking rent for the major apartment markets was up 50

bps in May, slightly below the normal +60 bps seasonal cadence. The West Coast (+60 bps) performed

in line with the normal seasonal cadence, while the East Coast, Midwest and Sunbelt all lagged normal

by 10 bps. The West Coast continued to be a tale of two cities, with San Francisco continuing a very