With Homeownership Slipping Out of Reach, It's Time to Invest in Apartment Homes

For Millennials and Gen Z facing challenges in attaining homeownership and favoring renting over buying, apartment real estate investment trusts (REITs) emerge as a strategic investment route. Here are two REITs that these generations can use to navigate the evolving real estate market through this alternative avenue.

UDR

UDR UDR, also known as United Dominion Realty Trust, owns or has ownership interests in over 51,000 high-quality apartment homes across some of the most desirable markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Sunbelt, and West Coast regions, including Boston, Dallas, Denver, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

UDR currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equating to $1.68 per share annually, giving it a yield of about 4.6% at the time of this writing. On top of having a high yield, UDR is a serial dividend raiser. It has raised its annual dividend for 14 consecutive years, and its recent hike has it on pace for 2024 to mark the 15th consecutive year with an increase.

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Mid-America Apartment Communities

Mid-America Apartment Communities MAA owns or has ownership interests in nearly 102,000 apartment homes across the high-growth Sunbelt region of the United States, including Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa, Orlando, Charlotte, Austin, Nashville, and Houston.

MAA currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.47 per share, equating to $5.88 per share annually, giving it a yield of about 4.5% at the time of this writing. Like UDR, MAA is a serial dividend raiser. It has raised its annual dividend for 13 consecutive years, and its recent hike has it on pace for 2024 to mark the 14th consecutive year with an increase.

Arrived Homes

You can also gain exposure to the benefits of homeownership through Arrived Homes.

Arrived is an alternative investment platform, backed by Jeff Bezos and Dara Khosrowshahi, that allows individuals to easily invest in real estate by purchasing shares of rental properties. Investors on the platform earn passive income through the rental revenue while waiting for the properties they invest in to appreciate in value over time.

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