
Rental housing economist Jay Parsons dives deep with UDR, America's longest-running apartment REIT, sharing the story from UDR's founding as a small Virginia operator in the 1970s to its growth into an S&P 500 company — and the many turns along the way. UDR's chief financial officer, David Bragg, joins the podcast and covers a wide range of topics from thoughts on the AvalonBay/Equity Residential merger to stock buybacks to managing apartments without leasing staff on site. Additionally, Jay gives his take on the big headline of the week: The U.S. Senate and House reached agreement on the ROAD to Housing Act, clearing its path to passage. What does that mean for single-family rentals and build-to-rent? Jay summarizes the legislation and its potential impact. Also, Jay shares the latest Census data on multifamily starts, and why you should take that data with a heavy grain of salt.