Gross cap rate—the ratio of rent to purchase price—remains the cleanest single-metric screen for single-family rental (SFR) strategy. We here calculate that ratio for the largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), using matched price and rent data for a representative single-family asset.
The exercise is intentionally spare. By stripping out operating costs, leverage and tax effects we obtain a yield that is comparable across markets and cycle dates. The resulting MSA-level yield surface should allow capital allocators to rank markets by headline yield so underwriting hours are deployed where spreads are widest—and withheld where they are already fully priced.
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