RealPage’s DOJ Deal Rewrites the Rules for Rent Algorithms

• RealPage doesn’t pay: A landmark DOJ settlement is about to redraw the lines on how rental pricing software can use data — and how far algorithms can go.

• Hotlanta: Atlanta’s dealmaking rebound may be the clearest sign yet that CRE markets are waking back up.

• Prime time: Industrious’ SF expansion shows demand is rushing back to prime, amenitized offices despite high overall vacancies.

• Smart building trends webinar: Smart buildings are evolving as AI and connected systems redefine how properties think, adapt, and perform. Sign up

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RealPage’s DOJ Deal Rewrites the Rules for Rent Algorithms

The Department of Justice has agreed to a settlement with RealPage over allegations that its pricing software enabled landlords to collude on rents. The outcome looks much closer to a reset than a punishment. RealPage will pay no fine, no restitution, no damages, and it will not admit wrongdoing. After years of headlines and a sweeping antitrust complaint, the fact that the company walks away without monetary penalties stands out. The required changes focus on guardrails. RealPage must stop using non-public rent data, limit its inputs to information at least a year old, and remove features that discouraged discounts or encouraged matching competitors.

To understand why this feels like a favorable result for the multifamily industry, it helps to revisit the original complaint. In August 2024 the DOJ and eight states accused RealPage of using proprietary landlord data to produce recommendations that discouraged concessions and pushed peers toward similar pricing. The case sat in a gray area where revenue-management tools meet antitrust law. By resolving the matter through behavioral adjustments instead of fines, the DOJ acknowledged both the ambiguity of that area and the limits of its theory.

Multifamily operators have long relied on revenue-management software to calibrate rents in volatile markets. Scrutiny increased as these systems drew on wider datasets, but the rules for algorithmic pricing are still evolving. The lighter-than-expected settlement reinforces a sense that the government’s case was weaker than early coverage suggested. The industry now has clarity rather than condemnation. The tools remain usable, but the data inputs must be more transparent and more segmented.

The broader takeaway for owners and operators is that regulators care most about the inputs and decision paths. Tools that rely on recent competitor data or that explicitly steer collective behavior invite scrutiny. Tools that use older information and support independent decisions remain acceptable. RealPage’s outcome shows the difference. The company continues to operate, now with adjustments rather than penalties. This settlement sets a new baseline. Algorithms will continue to shape pricing strategies, but with clearer boundaries. For a multifamily sector facing softening fundamentals and higher operating costs, the fact that the DOJ opted for modifications instead of sanctions will be viewed as a quiet victory.

Overheard

Atlanta’s Investment Surge Points to a CRE Market Thaw

Atlanta’s investment sales market is regaining momentum, with Q3 marking its strongest quarter in years. Avison Young data shows Atlanta leading all U.S. metros in quarter-over-quarter growth in both dollar volume and transaction count. Sales nearly doubled from Q2 to $3.4 billion, while transactions jumped 53% to 187. Office deals were a major contributor: year-to-date office sales reached $1.5 billion, a 64% increase over the same period in 2024, placing Atlanta just behind the nation’s largest coastal markets. Even so, several categories—especially development sites—remain below last year’s activity.

The rebound is meaningful but still modest when viewed against the peak years of cheap capital. Atlanta notched $35 billion in sales in 2021 and $26 billion in 2022; this year will likely end around $10 billion. Brokers say the current surge looks dramatic mainly because of how depressed activity was over the past two years. Private buyers are fueling much of the office demand, especially for non-trophy assets where pricing has reset and value-add potential is higher. Institutions, too, appear to be inching back—highlighted by the recent $1.1 billion purchase of 590 Madison in New York, a sign that office is becoming investable again.

For the broader U.S. CRE market, Atlanta’s performance suggests that liquidity is returning first in markets with strong job bases, resilient office utilization, and realistic pricing. Atlanta’s office attendance—72.5% of pre-pandemic levels among Fortune 500 employers—is well above the national average, reinforcing investor confidence. If Atlanta is an early indicator, 2026 could bring a wider thaw: buyers stepping back into office, private capital driving the middle of the market, and institutions selectively re-engaging as pricing stabilizes.

Co-Working Growth Shows Strength at the Top of the Office Market

Industrious is doubling down on San Francisco’s Financial District, taking an additional 17,100 square feet at 345 California and bringing its total footprint in the tower to roughly 50,500 square feet. The CBRE-backed co-working operator says the expansion will be fully built out by mid-February, a move that comes as the building’s owner, Metropolis Investment Holdings, pushes occupancy to 85%. Despite citywide vacancy still hovering above 31%, prime buildings continue to attract tenants, and San Francisco’s net absorption turned positive again in the third quarter.

For Industrious, the decision fits its long-running strategy of measured growth in high-quality locations. Backed by CBRE—now its full owner after an $800 million valuation deal—Industrious is positioning itself as the premium workplace-experience provider for companies returning to upgraded spaces. The company is expanding across the Bay Area, including a new 19,800-square-foot lease in Burlingame, as AI and professional services firms drive demand in walkable, amenity-rich districts. CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic told investors that the broader office recovery is already underway, saying, “The leasing markets are back.”

The broader takeaway for U.S. office markets: prime space is separating even further from the rest of the pack, and co-working operators are capturing a growing share of demand. Even with muted per-employee space needs and elevated vacancies, activity is consolidating in Class A buildings and key urban nodes—mirroring trends in New York, Atlanta, and other metros where well-located, amenitized offices are effectively fully leased. San Francisco’s rebound illustrates a national pattern: the office market isn’t uniformly recovering, but the top of the market is very much alive.

Office-to-Residential Playbook

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