8.2.6.3Vertical

Market-Rate Multifamily Management

Third-party managers of conventional apartment communities.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Residential Property Management (8.2.6), the segment that Market-Rate Multifamily Management sits within. They are not figures for Market-Rate Multifamily Management on its own.

Market size
~$70B
Growth
~8.7%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~40,091 firms
Firms by employee count

90.1% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 36,125 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe3,966 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
2,86872%
100–499
85221%
500+
2466%

Grew faster than its commercial counterpart on the back of institutional single-family ownership and rent growth. The revenue is a percentage of collections, so it inflates with rents without the manager taking any of the asset risk. That makes it an unusually well-positioned toll on the housing market.

NAICS 531311. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Management fees (% of rent) plus leasing and services

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$1,736,129
Revenue per employee
$134,179
Employees per firm
12.7
Recurring revenue
High

recurring management contracts

EBITDA margin
Asset-light service economics
Capex intensity
Low

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 39% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Deep strategic-buyer pool: 246 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has trade buyers
  • Largest PM segment; led by Greystar.
  • Institutionalization of rental housing (BTR, SFR).
  • Most active PM roll-up arena.

NAICS 531311. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiNew York

New York, Hawaii and the District of Columbia are markets dominated by multi-unit buildings and non-resident owners, the two conditions that make third-party residential management a necessity rather than a choice.

New YorkHawaiiDistrict of Columbia

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 531311. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityHigh

Who’s acquiring

  • National residential managers
  • PE-backed PM platforms
  • Regional consolidators

What’s driving deals

  • Roll-up of fragmented residential managers.
  • Build-to-rent and SFR institutionalization.
  • Technology-enabled scaling.

Find Market-Rate Multifamily Management acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Market-Rate Multifamily Management (8.2.6.3) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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