Real Estate Merger Poised to Create Several Local Apartment Monopolies by Rebecca Burns

[justaprogressive]

A $69 billion merger between two real estate behemoths is set to create the largest publicly traded apartment landlord in U.S. history, dramatically expanding the market power of two firms that have been sued repeatedly over alleged tenant abuses and illegal price-fixing.

Together, real estate investment trusts (REITs) AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential own more than 180,000 apartments nationwide, with another 20,000 under development. Were these two companies banks or broadcast networks or grocery stores, their merger would face mandatory review by federal regulators. But long-standing loopholes exempt real estate mergers from antitrust scrutiny—even as concerns mount about the consolidation of housing in the hands of large investors.

Equity Residential and AvalonBay are among dozens of investors that have already been accused of acting as a “cartel” to inflate rents during the pandemic, costing tenants billions. Just weeks before the two companies announced their planned merger in May, Equity Residential agreed to pay $56 million to resolve a class action antitrust lawsuit brought by renters. The company denied wrongdoing but also agreed to refrain from sharing private pricing data with RealPage, the tech company facilitating the alleged price-fixing conspiracy. AvalonBay still faces antitrust and consumer fraud claims involving RealPage, brought by the Washington, D.C., attorney general.

While the RealPage scandal thrust a novel antitrust issue—collusion by algorithm—into the spotlight, anti-monopoly advocates warn that ordinary mergers between rival firms remain a time-tested strategy to squeeze consumers.

https://prospect.org/2026/06/17/real-estate-merger-apartment-monopolies-avalonbay-equity-residential/