The next housing revolution will not be defined by who builds the most units.
It will be defined who controls the workflow of the employee.
For years, the hiring conversation has focused on demand. Many employers. Long times. Several paths to home ownership. That story is familiar and now well understood by many real estate professionals.
What is changing now is the most important thing. The rental market has entered an infrastructure era.
This time is different because rental demand has reached a scale that legacy systems were never designed to support. Multifamily construction has brought unprecedented value to urban and high-growth markets, while single-family rentals continue to dominate the suburbs and secondary districts. Together, these forces have expanded the rental landscape beyond the marginal market and into a permanent layer of US housing.
But scale changes everything.
When employment was eventful, inefficiency prevailed. When employment continues, inefficiency becomes a barrier.
Agents are already sensing this change, even if they don’t describe it this way. Employment inquiries come in faster than sales leads. Application volume compresses timelines. Homeowners expect price guidance, inspection confidence, and speed. Recruiters expect a professional experience similar to what they see in the sales world.
However, the majority of employee workflows are still managed with tools and practices designed for a very small market.
This is an uncomfortable truth. Demand for leases is growing faster than the infrastructure agents are relying on to supply it.
That gap is now a defining issue.
The rise of multifamily has played a major role in driving this change. Apartments now account for nearly one-third of all rental housing, surpassing single-family rentals for the first time in modern tracking. That change isn’t just about where tenants live. It’s about volume. Top hiring creates momentum. More listings. More apps. More transactions. Speed creates friction.
At the same time, single-family employment remains strong. In many suburban and secondary markets, rental growth for detached homes continues to outpace multifamily rates, reflecting the continued demand for space and stability. This is not a one-way market. It is a market that is growing in many areas at the same time.
What is often misunderstood is who exactly powers this expansion.
Despite the attention paid to institutional ownership, the rental market remains highly volatile. Private landlords still control the majority of rental properties across the country. These owners depend on agents not just for placements, but for price understanding, risk mitigation, and operational guidance.
As hiring volume increases, those prospects rise.
This is where the role of the agent changes. Hiring is no longer a favor, a filler, or a part-time job. They are a system that needs to work at scale. Agents who treat rental properties like disposables will find it hard to keep up. Agents who treat rentals as infrastructure, repeatable, data-driven, and professional, will have long-term relationships on both sides of the market.
What the industry is saying is clear. The future of employment will not be determined solely by inventory, interest rates, or construction cycles. It will be determined by controlling the workflow. Who owns the tenant relationship. Who measures the process. Who does the work of renting is equal to every place of residence.
This is no longer about whether rent matters. That question has been answered.
The real question now is whether the industry is ready to use them at scale.
Michael Lucarelli is the CEO of RentSpree.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: [email protected].
