Key Highlights

• The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, effective from July 2026, bars large institutional investors from buying existing single-family homes, reshaping how Invitation Homes can grow.

• Vivmark Residential launched August 17, 2026, from the Merger of AvalonBay and Equity Residential, and was confirmed by S&P Dow Jones Indices to keep the combined company's S&P 500 slot.

• Rent growth is trailing expense growth at both companies: Invitation Homes' same-store NOI grew 1.5% while Vivmark's predecessors posted NOI growth of just 1.0% and 1.4%.

For Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH) and Vivmark Residential (NYSE:VMRK), housing affordability shapes both sides of their business: how many households rent rather than buy, and how much rent those households can bear. Both are S&P 500 real estate Investment trusts, but they sit in different parts of the rental market. Invitation Homes leases single-family houses, a segment that US lawmakers have now restricted; Vivmark, formed in August 2026 from AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential, owns apartments. The affordability squeeze supports Demand for both, yet recent results show it also limits pricing power.

Two Landlords, Two Housing Types

Invitation Homes owned or managed 109,217 homes at June 30, 2026, of which 85,509 were wholly owned, according to its second-quarter supplement. The rest sit in joint ventures or are managed for third parties.

Vivmark Residential launched on August 17, 2026, after AvalonBay and Equity Residential completed their merger of equals, and began trading on the NYSE on August 18. It owns interests in more than 184,000 apartments, with over 11,100 under construction. Former AvalonBay holders own about 51% and former Equity Residential holders about 49%. S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed on August 13 that the combined company, operating as the renamed Equity Residential, would remain in the S&P 500, while AvalonBay's slot went to Reddit.

Why Affordability Supports Demand

When buying is expensive, households rent for longer. Invitation Homes chief executive Dallas Tanner said in the results release of July 29, 2026, that leasing a home in its markets costs on average over $1,000 a month less than owning, citing housing research data. On the results call, management said average resident tenure had passed 40 months.

Longer stays matter financially. Each move-out means vacancy, repairs and Marketing costs, so lower turnover protects net operating income, the rent a property generates after direct operating expenses. Invitation Homes' quarterly turnover was 5.7%.

Why Affordability Also Caps Rent Growth

The same pressure limits what landlords can charge. In the three months to June 30, 2026, Invitation Homes' same-store core Revenue grew 1.6% and same-store NOI 1.5%, while average occupancy slipped to 97.1% from 97.3%. New leases were signed at rents only 1.1% above the previous lease, against 3.3% for renewals.

Vivmark has not yet reported results as a combined company, so the predecessors' figures, both reported on July 22, 2026, are the best guide. AvalonBay reported same-store residential revenue growth of 1.6% and NOI growth of 1.0%, as operating expenses rose 2.9%. Equity Residential reported same-store revenue up 1.9%, expenses up 3.0% and NOI up 1.4%, with physical occupancy of 96.2% against 96.6%.

The Policy Layer: The ROAD to Housing Act

Affordability has also become a political issue aimed squarely at single-family landlords. On January 20, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled Stopping Wall Street From Competing With Main Street Homebuyers. Congress followed with the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which became law on July 11, 2026.

The act defines a large institutional investor as one controlling at least 350 single-family homes and bars such investors from buying single-family homes, effective 180 days after enactment. There are exemptions, including newly built homes, build-to-rent and renovate-to-rent programmes, and it does not force owners to sell homes they already hold.

For Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH), this changes how it can grow. Buying existing homes on the open market becomes largely closed, pushing expansion towards new construction through its builder relationships and ResiBuilt, a homebuilder it acquired in January 2026. Tanner said the law provided greater clarity and argued that affordability is best improved by adding new supply. Meanwhile the company is selling: 657 homes in the second quarter for gross proceeds of about $309 million, mainly to end users, and it raised its 2026 disposition guidance to $750-950 million.

How the Numbers Feed Through

Invitation Homes' total revenue rose to $747.6 million from $681.4 million, helped by growth beyond the same-store pool. Core funds from operations, a REIT Earnings measure excluding Depreciation and one-off items, rose to $0.51 per share from $0.48, and 2026 Core FFO guidance moved to $1.92-1.98. Proceeds from home sales have funded Buybacks of 22.8 million shares for $600 million this year.

Vivmark's (NYSE:VMRK) affordability lever is different. At launch it held about $4.2 billion of development rights for roughly 9,900 future homes, on top of the apartments already under construction; at June 30 AvalonBay alone had 27 communities with 9,064 homes being built. That pipeline adds rental supply, which the company funds partly through more than $2 billion of self-funding capacity in 2026. It has set an initial annualised Dividend of $2.81 per share and carries A3/A- Credit ratings.

The predecessors' earnings were steadier than their NOI. AvalonBay's Core FFO rose to $2.86 per share from $2.82, and Equity Residential's normalised FFO to $1.02 from $0.99. Both raised same-store guidance before the merger closed: AvalonBay to revenue growth of 1.1-2.1% for 2026, Equity Residential to 2.1-2.7%.

Stress Signals in the Tenant Base

Affordability pressure can also appear as arrears. Invitation Homes put bad debt, meaning rent it does not expect to collect, at 0.6% of gross rental revenue in the quarter, a measure worth tracking if household budgets tighten. Its Balance Sheet gives some room: net Debt stood at 5.4 times trailing adjusted EBITDAre, below its 5.5-6.0 times target range.

On the apartment side, Equity Residential's quarterly resident turnover edged up to 11.7% from 11.2%, a reminder that apartment residents typically move far more often than single-family tenants.

Risks to the Thesis

If Mortgage costs fall or home prices soften, renting may lose its cost advantage and turnover could rise, weakening both companies' occupancy. Rent growth already trails expense growth at Vivmark's predecessors, squeezing margins. For Invitation Homes, the ROAD Act's purchase restrictions narrow its Acquisition options, and future rule changes remain possible. For Vivmark, integrating two large platforms carries execution risk, and there is no track record as a combined company.

Affordability Signals Ahead

For Invitation Homes, watch new-lease rent growth, occupancy, turnover, disposition volumes and whether ResiBuilt deliveries replace homes sold. For Vivmark, the key indicators are its first combined Quarterly Report and guidance, renewal spreads, occupancy, merger integration progress and the pace of development deliveries. For both, the implementation of the ROAD to Housing Act's purchase ban will show how policy on affordability reshapes US rental housing.