Single-family rents hit record annual growth; BREIT to buy Preferred Apartment

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Rents for single-family apartments in the U.S. grew 12% year over year in December 2021, the fastest annual increase in over 16 years, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index.

Rents in the high-price tier, which consists of properties that cost more than 125% of a region's median rent, rose 11.9%, up from 4.5% the previous year.

Rents in the low-price tier, or properties with rent prices less than 75% of a region's median rent, rose 11.2%, up from 3.9% in December 2020.

Of the 20 large metropolitan areas, the highest year-over-year growth was in Miami, where rent grew 35.7%. The Washington, D.C., metro area recorded the lowest increase at 5.3%, according to the report. All 20 metros recorded higher rent growth than a year earlier.

Billion-dollar club

* Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. will acquire Preferred Apartment Communities Inc. at $25 per share in a roughly $5.8 billion cash deal, about 70% of which represents rental apartments, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

* Realty Income Corp. is set to buy the Encore Boston Harbor Resort and Casino in Everett., Mass., for $1.7 billion. The seller, Wynn Resorts Ltd., will lease back the property for an initial term of 30 years, with a 30-year renewal option.

Property moves

* Investcorp Holdings BSC acquired 64 industrial assets across the U.S. for $640 million. The properties span about 5.6 million square feet and are in Chicago, Dallas, the New York metropolitan area, Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia and St. Louis.

* American Finance Trust Inc., through its operating partnership, acquired 44 open-air shopping centers for $547 million, excluding closing costs. It is the first tranche of the company's $1.3 billion deal to buy a portfolio of 79 power, anchored and grocery centers and two single-tenant assets totaling 9.5 million square feet from CIM Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. subsidiaries.

* Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc. subsidiary Mesirow Realty Sale-Leaseback Inc. sold a fulfillment center in Bondurant, Iowa, for over $325 million to Capital Square. The newly constructed property spans 2.68 million square feet and is leased to Amazon.com Inc.

* Sares Regis Group Operating Inc. bought a multifamily property in Phoenix from Caspian Properties for about $118.3 million, Multi-Housing News reported. The company acquired the 312-unit Arboretum at South Mountain Property through its Sares Regis Multifamily Value-Add Fund IV.

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