Texas-based RealPage’s YieldStar software helps landlords set prices for apartments across the U.S. With rents soaring, critics are concerned that the company’s proprietary algorithm is hurting competition.
by Heather Vogell, ProPublica
On a summer day last year, a group of real estate tech executives gathered at a conference hall in Nashville to boast about one of their company’s signature products: software that uses a mysterious algorithm to help landlords push the highest possible rents on tenants.
“Never before have we seen these numbers,” said Jay Parsons, a vice president of RealPage, as conventiongoers wandered by. Apartment rents had recently shot up by as much as 14.5%, he said in a video touting the company’s services. Turning to his colleague, Parsons asked: What role had the software played?
“I think it’s driving it, quite honestly,” answered Andrew Bowen, another RealPage executive. “As a property manager, very few of us would be willing to actually raise rents double digits within a single month by doing it manually.”
The celebratory remarks were more than swagger. For years, RealPage has sold software that uses data analytics to suggest daily prices for open units. Property managers across the United States have gushed about how the company’s algorithm boosts profits.
Recent Posts
Nuclear Powers Spend Record Billions on Weapons While Hunger and Climate Needs Go Unmet
Take Action Now The United States accounted for more than half of global nuclear weapons spending in 2025 as watchdogs warn of a growing arms race,…
Daniel Ellsberg vs. “Ordinary Insanity”
Take Action Now A new documentary issues an urgent warning about our dangerous nuclear delusions.By Norman Solomon, The Nation A few days before…
House Rejects Ro Khanna’s Effort to Block U.S.-Israel Military Integration
Take Action Now Khanna introduced an amendment to strike down the proposal on Thursday, but was met with widespread opposition.By Shireen…
The Spectre of Gen Z Socialism is Haunting the World … According to the Economist
Take Action Now The magazine writes: ‘Resisting Gen-Z socialism is therefore an urgent task.’ That urgency must outweigh any urgency of feeding…