Entering fourth-quarter earnings season for apartment REITs, Alexander Goldfarb, managing director and senior research analyst for investment bank and financial services company Piper Sandler, saw investor sentiment crash to lows not seen in three decades.
“Whereas apartments used to be the ‘safe’ sector for investors, 2025 upended that view with sentiment heading into 4Q25 earnings about the sourest we've seen in our three decades in REITland,” Goldfarb wrote in a research note shared with Multifamily Dive.
Economic volatility and ample supply became massive headwinds as 2025 progressed, dampening full-year results. Even with some bright spots, such as UDR reporting new lease rate growth of 550 basis points and renewal rate growth of 300 basis points since October, many questions remain heading into 2026.
New deliveries plummeted 60% from their 2026 peak in MAA’s markets, but economic and job concerns may now be the primary concern for REIT investors. While some management teams downplayed those concerns, others see a major potential headwind that could upend their 2026 recovery.
“We anticipate a more muted job growth environment relative to recent years, and we are mindful of regulatory risk, not just at the market level, but at the federal level, given continued uncertainty over tariffs, immigration and more,” UDR Chief Financial Officer Dave Bragg said in the Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings call. “This has affected consumer confidence, which recently hit its lowest level in a decade.”
Read on for more about how the apartment REITs performed last year and what they expect from this year.
