NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — RentRedi, the fastest-growing property management software for smart real estate investors, today released the results of its Q1 2026 Rental Investing Sentiment Survey, offering a snapshot of how rental owners are thinking about the year ahead. The survey reveals a rental market shaped by steady demand, selective growth, and a growing emphasis on operational efficiency.
“Our survey shows a real shift: efficiency has become a real competitive advantage for independent landlords,” said RentRedi Co-founder and CEO Ryan Barone. “Rental owners are focusing on tighter operations, better data, and smarter systems so they can protect margins and keep their rental businesses resilient. RentRedi is built to support that mindset, helping independent landlords centralize operations, reduce manual work, and make decisions that save both time and money.”
While half of rental investors (50%) say current market conditions feel unchanged from the past year, sentiment is gradually improving. More than a third of respondents (39%) expect rental investing conditions to improve somewhat in 2026, supported by continued confidence in renter demand and stable turnover expectations. At the same time, investors are signaling a clear awareness of cost pressures and time constraints – factors that are increasingly influencing how rental businesses are run.
This focus on operational efficiency is reflected throughout the survey results, from how investors plan to grow portfolios to how they’re budgeting for expenses and setting rents in the year ahead.
Rental investors indicate a notable increase in purchasing activity in 2026
After a largely cautious year in 2025, rental investors are signaling renewed, though measured, interest in acquisitions. More than half of respondents (51%) plan to purchase one or two rental properties in 2026, a meaningful shift from last year, when 55% reported making no purchases at all.
Despite this uptick, expansion plans remain optimistically measured, as investors focus on limited, intentional purchases where the numbers make sense. Nearly one-third of investors (32%) plan to make no purchases in 2026, and only 17% expect to acquire three or more properties. This points to selective growth focused on deal quality rather than rapid scale.
Rental owners largely plan to hold onto and improve current properties in 2026
Selling activity is expected to remain limited in 2026. Seventy-nine percent of respondents plan no property sales in 2026, following a similar trend in 2025 when 87% sold none of their investment properties. With inventory likely to remain tight, investors planning to buy may need to search harder and smarter for opportunities that meet their ROI requirements.
Rather than reshuffling portfolios, most rental owners are doubling down on existing assets. The majority of respondents plan to invest in property improvements this year, with 39% expecting to spend between $1,500 and $4,999 per unit on home improvement projects. An additional 36% anticipate spending $5,000 or more per unit.
These planned investments suggest landlords are prioritizing long-term asset performance, habitability, and operating efficiency, especially as holding periods extend and selling activity remains low.
Stable renter dynamics support this approach. More than two-thirds of investors (68%) expect renter turnover to remain about the same as in 2025, while nearly one in five expect turnover to decline. This stability reinforces the value of maintaining properties well and retaining tenants in a cost-conscious environment.
Landlords anticipate little to no increase in rent prices in 2026
Even with strong demand expectations, most landlords are approaching rent increases conservatively. While 77% of investors expect rental demand to be somewhat or very strong in 2026, rent strategies suggest pricing restraint.
Nearly half of respondents (47%) plan modest rent increases of 1–3%, and 31% do not plan to raise rent at all. Fewer than one in four landlords plan increases above 4%, and almost none expect to reduce rents.
This gap between demand strength and rent growth expectations indicates that many landlords are taking a measured approach to setting rent prices in 2026, balancing affordability, tenant retention, and market realities, rather than assuming demand alone will support higher prices.
Rising costs remain the biggest challenge to independent rental businesses in 2026
Cost pressure continues to define the operating environment. More than half of investors (54%) cite increased costs as the biggest barrier to reaching their goals in 2026, making it the most commonly reported challenge by a wide margin. Time commitment ranks second, reinforcing why efficiency and streamlined operations are becoming increasingly important.
When asked which expenses are most likely to rise, investors point first to insurance (34%) and property taxes (29%), followed by maintenance and repairs (21%) and utilities (17%). These largely fixed or external costs are limiting flexibility and compressing margins, particularly for smaller operators.
Against this backdrop, the survey underscores why landlords are leaning into planning, systems, and data-driven decision-making to stay competitive. Historically, periods like this are when disciplined operators gain share – not by raising rents aggressively, but by running tighter, smarter businesses.
What This Means for Landlords
The Q1 2026 survey points to a rental market where strategy and execution matter more than broad market swings:
- Expect opportunity, but underwrite carefully.
Buying interest is returning, particularly for small additions to portfolios, but investors are targeting deals that work under higher-cost assumptions.
- Expense control and tenant retention are the keys to profitability.
While rental demand is expected to remain solid, most landlords are planning modest or no rent increases, opting for a disciplined, data-informed approach to rental management.
- Holding onto property remains a common strategy.
Limited selling plans suggest many owners still believe in the long-term value of their properties.
- Budgeting, forecasting, and operational visibility will drive better outcomes.
Insurance, property taxes, and maintenance are top concerns, reinforcing the importance of tracking and adjusting finances in real-time.
- Efficiency is becoming a competitive advantage.
With time commitment ranking among the top challenges, landlords who streamline operations and rely on better data will be better positioned to weather a slower-growth environment.
These trends reinforce why tools that centralize operations, surface real-time insights, and reduce manual work are no longer “nice to have” – they’re foundational.
Methodology
RentRedi’s Q1 2026 Rental Investing Sentiment Survey was conducted from December 11, 2025 through January 6, 2026 among 884 rental property owners nationwide to capture sentiment, behavior, and expectations for the year ahead. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and therefore the values in each barchart may not equal 100%. The findings are intended to help landlords benchmark their strategies and make more informed decisions about their rental businesses.
For more insights and tools to help rental owners operate more efficiently and confidently, visit http://www.rentredi.com.
About RentRedi
RentRedi is a comprehensive, data-powered rental management software for savvy landlords and investors. It helps people rent smarter by providing the tools and intelligence to optimize portfolios, boost retention, reduce turnover, and improve the lives of everyone in the rental process. By combining real-time data, user behavior insights, and customer feedback with a modern, intuitive interface, RentRedi delivers solutions that help real estate investors increase revenue, reduce risk, save time, minimize friction, and improve relationships. For landlords, it’s an all-in-one web and mobile app that streamlines rent collection, listings, tenant screening, lease signing, maintenance coordination, and accounting, while tenants enjoy features like online rent payment, auto-pay, credit building and boosting, and 24/7 maintenance requests.
Founded in 2016, RentRedi is VC-backed and a proven PropTech leader, recognized by the Inc. 5000, Inc. Power Partners, Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech, and HousingWire’s Tech100. With more than $33 billion in assets under management and nearly 300,000 landlords and tenants using its platform, RentRedi partners with leading technology providers including Zillow, TransUnion, Experian, Equifax, Realtor.com, Lessen, Thumbtack, Plaid, and Stripe to create the best customer experience possible. Learn more at RentRedi.com.
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