Apartment REITs have proved resilient to recessions thanks to the essential nature of their business. They also widely have high dividend yields well above the Index average.
And, apartment REITs would benefit from falling interest rates, which would lower their cost of capital.
The following 3 apartment REITs have strong business models, and high dividend yields.
1. Camden Property Trust (CPT)
Camden Property Trust (NYSE:) is one of the largest publicly traded multifamily real estate companies in the United States. It owns, manages and develops multifamily apartment communities. It currently owns 172 properties that contain over 58,000 apartments.
On July 31st, 2025, Camden Property reported its Q2 results. For the quarter, the company reported property revenue of $396.5 million, up slightly from $387.2 million in Q2 2024.
While same-property revenues rose 1.0%, same-store occupancy increased 30 basis points to 95.6%. Same-property expenses grew by 2.4% during the period, while same-property net operating income (NOI) grew 0.2%.
Funds from Operations (FFO) totaled $184.2 million, or $1.67 per share, compared to $187.7 million, or $1.71 per share, in Q2 2024.
Camden has a competitive advantage in its position as one of the largest multifamily REITs in the U.S. Its scale and expertise allow it to leverage its experience across a wide portfolio of properties and actively pursue developments.
More recently, in 2023 and 2024, the market has started to normalize, with FFO settling around $6.70. While growth has slowed a bit due to softening rental trends and slight occupancy declines, Camden remains well-positioned for the long run.
As of the most recent report, Camden held $8.8 billion in real estate assets and $9.1 billion in total assets against $4.5 billion in total liabilities. The company’s net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio stood at 4.2x, up slightly from 3.8x a year ago. The company’s FFO payout ratio has hovered in the 60% to 70% range for the last decade.
CPT has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and currently yields 3.9%.
2. AvalonBay Communities (AVB)
AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:) is a multifamily REIT that owns a portfolio of several hundred apartment communities and is also an active developer of apartment communities. The strategy of the REIT involves owning top-tier properties in the major metropolitan areas of New England, New York/New Jersey, Washington D.C., California, and the Pacific Northwest.
On July 31, 2025, AvalonBay Communities, Inc. reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2025. AvalonBay reported EPS at $1.88, up 5.6% from $1.78 in Q2 2024, FFO per share at $2.80 (up 1.8%), and Core FFO per share at $2.82 (up 1.8%).
Year-to-date (YTD) 2025 EPS increased 18.0% to $3.54, with FFO per share at $5.59 (up 2.0%) and Core FFO per share at $5.65 (up 3.3%). Same Store Residential NOI grew 2.7% to $477,180,000 in Q2, driven by a 3.0% revenue increase to $689,100,000, despite a 3.6% rise in operating expenses to $211,920,000.
Year-to-date, Same Store Residential NOI rose 2.6% to $948,085,000, with revenue up 3.0% to $1,371,215,000 and expenses up 3.8% to $423,130,000.
For 2025, guidance projects EPS between $7.75–$8.15, FFO per share at $11.06–$11.46, and Core FFO per share at $11.19–$11.59, with Same Store Residential NOI expected to grow 2.0%–3.4%.
AvalonBay’s investments are essentially a bet on the economic strength of its core markets. Furthermore, the fact that most of its assets are high-quality “A” apartment units makes it even more levered to the state of the economy, as these apartments are in high demand during strong economic conditions but are less affordable during a recession.
AVB does have considerable economies of scale, low cost of capital, operational and marketing expertise, and a brand name advantage, which enable it to compete effectively against competitors. The trust’s balance sheet is also very strong, as its sector-leading A- credit rating makes clear.
AVB stock currently yields 3.7%.
3. American Homes 4 Rent (AMH)
Based in Maryland, American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:) is an internally managed REIT that focuses on acquiring, developing, renovating, operating and leasing single-family homes as rental properties. AMH was formed in 2013 and has a market capitalization of $14 billion.
The REIT holds nearly 58,000 single-family properties in more than 30 sub-markets of metropolitan statistical areas in 21 states. On February 12th, 2025, AMH increased its quarterly dividend 15.4% to $0.30 per share.
On July 31st, 2025, AMH announced second quarter results for the period ending June 30th, 2025. For the quarter, revenue increased 8% to $457.5 million, beating estimates by $7.7 million. FFO of $0.47 compared favorably to FFO of $0.46 in the previous year and was $0.01 ahead of expectations.
For the quarter, AMH had a same-home average occupied day percentage of 96.3%, which was a 40 basis point improvement from the prior year. New leases signed had rental rate growth of 4.1% while renewal rental rates increased 4.4%, leading to a blended growth rate of 4.3%.
Occupied homes of 58,282 compared to 56,516 in the second quarter of 2024. Average monthly rents per property were up 4.0% while property expenses increased 3.6% to $124.5 million.
AMH has a short history as a publicly traded REIT, but funds-from-operation growth was extensive at the beginning of the trust’s existence. AMH’s funds-from-operation grew at a rate of 10.5% per year for the 2015 to 2024 10-year period.
AMH should be somewhat resilient during recessions. Consumers would still need places to live, so occupancy rates could well remain high. AMH is one of the largest operators of single-family in the U.S., giving it a size and scale that is above most of its peer group. Given the aggressive growth recently and the reasonable payout ratio, we project dividend growth will be 10% per year moving forward.
AMH stock currently yields 3.4%.
Get the complete list of Apartment REITs To Buy here
Disclosure: No positions in any stocks mentioned