Capital in motion: Inside housing’s evolving deal landscape

Higher rates have made capital more expensive, but strategic investors continue to commit capital to U.S. housing.

Investors and industry operators are becoming more selective about where they deploy capital and what they expect it to accomplish. Across homebuilding, single-family rental, build-to-rent (BTR), and residential land, transactions are being used to acquire scale, enter new markets, add specialized capabilities, and position businesses for growth.

Those priorities shaped a recent Zelman Housing Summit panel on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital allocation across housing.

Moderated by Tony McGill, Senior Managing Director & Head of Zelman Investment Banking and Haitham Said, Managing Director of Zelman Investment Banking, the discussion included insight from Scott Eisen, EVP and CIO of Invitation Homes, Warren Krug, EVP and CIO of Brookfield Residential, Eric Marks, Head of M&A at Daiwa House and Steve Benson Founder & CEO of Essential Housing.

Housing M&A is increasingly strategic

Recent housing transactions illustrate how acquisitions can create strategic value well beyond their immediate earnings contribution.

For companies looking to expand, acquisitions can provide capabilities that would otherwise take years to develop organically. That can include construction expertise, operating infrastructure, geographic reach, or access to new housing segments.

Invitation Homes’ acquisition of ResiBuilt, discussed during the panel, illustrates the approach. Invitation Homes wanted greater exposure to BTR and more control over development and construction. Rather than build those capabilities entirely in-house, the company acquired an established platform with specialized construction expertise and geographic reach.

Invitation Homes already had leasing capabilities. ResiBuilt brought construction expertise into the platform, giving Invitation Homes the ability to build homes for its own portfolio.

Other investors may take a more incremental approach, providing capital to an operator and developing familiarity with the business before considering an acquisition. Krug of Brookfield Residential discussed using this model across its housing investments, which span corporate M&A, land, and operating businesses.

Both approaches show how a business's strategic value can extend beyond its standalone financial profile.

Scale is influencing acquisition strategy

The panelists noted an expectation for consolidation among homebuilders to continue, driven in part by the operating advantages of scale.

Larger builders have greater purchasing leverage, spread costs across a broader platform, expand more easily geographically, and manage labor and supply constraints differently from smaller competitors. Acquisitions can accelerate those advantages.

Geographic expansion is one way those benefits can materialize. Acquiring an established operator can give a buyer immediate access to local infrastructure, relationships, and operating capabilities rather than requiring it to build a presence market by market.

Daiwa House’s recent U.S. expansion offers one example. Acquisitions have expanded its geographic reach, including in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. In Florida, the recent acquisition of Holiday Builders through Daiwa’s Stanley Martin Homes subsidiary expanded its presence from two divisions to eight.

The strategy also reflects a broader shift in the housing buyer pool. The panelists pointed to greater participation from strategic investors with long investment horizons, including Japanese buyers and other well-capitalized groups.

That creates more potential capital partners and transaction structures for housing companies. It also reinforces why transactions can’t be evaluated through a single valuation framework. Investment horizon, strategic fit, geographic expansion, and the capabilities being acquired can all influence what a business is worth to a particular buyer.

Capital allocation is becoming more selective

Elevated rates continue to affect the financing markets. The panelists noted weaker issuance in parts of the credit market, including housing, while companies across the sector have continued to allocate significant capital to share repurchases. Meanwhile, strategic buyers remain active in M&A.

As a result, scrutiny of competing uses of capital has increased. Management teams may be weighing acquisitions against organic expansion, new markets, share repurchases, land investment, or housing production.

That same discipline is supporting interest in structures designed to make existing capital go further. Land banking, for example, can allow builders to shift some land investment off their balance sheets and preserve capital for other uses.

The mechanics and economics vary, but the investment banking consideration is consistent: What is the optimal transaction structure that allows the company to put its capital to maximum productive use?

BTR capital responds to changing conditions

Build-to-rent shows how quickly capital allocation can change. Private equity investment expanded significantly as BTR grew from roughly 2018 through 2021. By 2025, equity allocation had slowed. Panelists attributed part of that pause to regulatory uncertainty surrounding institutional single-family rental ownership, which led some investors to hold back capital while evaluating potential changes.

That distinction matters because BTR is not a single investment strategy. New development and the acquisition of existing homes can carry different operating, capital, and regulatory considerations. Panelists saw a clearer path for institutional capital in new construction, while investment in existing homes remains more sensitive to the regulatory environment.

For institutional investors, clarity around how capital can be deployed can be as important as the underlying housing opportunity.

Capital efficiency is shaping the deal landscape

Across these different strategies, the common thread was capital efficiency.

Acquisitions can add capabilities or market presence faster than organic growth. Scale can improve purchasing and operating leverage. Strategic capital can help operators expand. Alternative financing structures can preserve balance-sheet capacity for other investments.

The value of each approach depends on a company’s strategy and the capital alternatives available. For investment banking clients, that puts greater weight on evaluating not only the economics of a transaction, but how it advances broader capital allocation and growth objectives.

In 2026, the housing deal landscape is being shaped by where capital can create the most value.

Watch the full conversation

Watch the Investment Banking panel at the 2026 Zelman Housing Summit on demand for more perspectives on M&A, land banking, BTR, and capital markets.

Put your capital strategy to work

Whether you’re evaluating the sale of your company, acquiring someone else’s, raising capital, recapitalizing – or optimally capitalizing – your balance sheet, or pursuing strategic growth, our investment banking team can help you evaluate the options, structure and execute the best path forward. Make an inquiry today.

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^{Zelman Partners LLC ("Zelman"), a registered broker-dealer and a member of FINRA/SIPC, served as Exclusive Sell-Side Financial Advisor to RESICAP on the sale of ResiBuilt. Zelman also served as Exclusive Sell-Side Financial Advisor to Holiday Builders on its sale to Stanley Martin Homes, a subsidiary of Daiwa House. This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, nor does it constitute investment, legal, or tax advice. Zelman & Associate’s equity research department maintains independent research coverage on Invitation Homes (NYSE: INVH). This article was prepared by Zelman's investment banking personnel, not by research analysts, and does not represent the views, ratings, or price targets of Zelman's research department. Zelman maintains information barriers between its research and investment banking functions designed to prevent investment banking activities from influencing research content, consistent with FINRA Rule 2241. Past transactions are not indicative of future results. This article reflects publicly available information as of the date of the transaction.}