Jay Parsons is a rental housing economist, advisor and speaker. He has advised numerous multifamily and single-family rental housing stakeholders – from institutional investors, REITs, regional operators, lenders, regulators and government agencies.

Jay hosts a weekly podcast called The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons, which in 2025 ranked among Spotify’s top 1% for most shared shows and in the 2% for listening time and for growth. Additionally, the readers of CRE Daily ranked The Rent Roll as the No. 1 housing podcast and No. 3 in all commercial real estate.

More than 150,000 people follow Jay’s content on social media. Favikon, a social media analytics firm, ranked Jay as the No. 3 voice on real estate globally, noting:

“He keeps it simple … The tone is conversational and candid, which pulls in pros who want clarity without agenda. Posts read like field notes, with context, caveats, and the occasional dry humor. The mix of original analysis and open debate makes him feel both authoritative and approachable.”

Jay has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, The Economist, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, and he has appeared on CNBC and BloombergTV. His commentaries have been published by Barron’s, the Pension Real Estate Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association and American Banker, among others.

In addition to independent speaking engagements and consulting, Jay serves as an Economics Advisor to JPI, a Strategy Advisor to Madera Residential and a partner in Waymaker. Previously, Jay was the Chief Economist at RealPage.

Jay also serves on the Board of Advisors for Apartment Life, a faith-based non-profit serving apartment residents and operators. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland currently living in the Dallas area with his wife and their five children.