Highlights
- Private equity firms own nearly 3 million U.S. apartment units, about 13% of the national total, per a new Private Equity Stakeholder Project analysis.
- Arizona ranks among eight states where private equity ownership is highest, alongside Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.
- Arizona is also among six states with the largest increases in cost-burdened renters, defined as households spending at least 30% of income on rent and utilities.
- More than half of all private equity-owned units nationally were acquired since 2018, with 45% purchased since 2021.
Private equity firms own nearly 1 in 4 apartment units in Arizona, placing the state among the most heavily institutionally owned rental markets in the country, according to a new analysis from watchdog group Private Equity Stakeholder Project published Friday by Arizona Mirror and Stateline.
Nationally, private equity firms own nearly 3 million apartment units, about 13% of the total U.S. apartment stock. More than two-thirds of those units are concentrated in 10 states: Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, New York, Arizona, Virginia and Washington. Texas leads with more than 1,900 properties and nearly 580,000 units. Private equity firms own nearly 1 in 3 apartment units in Georgia and almost 1 in 4 in North Carolina.
The acquisition pace has accelerated sharply. The companies acquired more than 1.7 million of those units, or 57%, since 2018, and about 45% of them since 2021.
The ownership concentration carries a direct cost signal for renters. Many of the states with the highest private equity ownership have also recorded some of the largest increases in cost-burdened renters, the report said, meaning households spending at least 30% of income on rent and utilities. Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Texas and Florida were among the six states with the biggest increases in that category.
Private equity firms use pooled investments from funds, endowments and wealthy individuals to buy a controlling stake in a company, maximize its value, often by cutting costs, and then sell at a profit.
The analysis was produced by Stateline, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes Arizona Mirror. The full report from Private Equity Stakeholder Project is available at pestakeholder.org.
Around the web
Public discussion (links to original posts):
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Sources
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- azmirror.com retrieved 22/05/2026 14:54
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 22/05/2026 14:54. Every claim traces to a source.
