WASHINGTON, DC—The National Rental Home Council has launched, an association formed to represent the owner-operators in the single-family rental home industry.

The NRCH plans to serve as a resource for policymakers, media, market observers, industry leaders and local officials and, of course, advocate for its issues. Founding members include Colony American Homes, Invitation Homes, American Homes 4 Rent, and Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust.

According to the association, one-third of American rentals have been single-family homes. The professionally managed single-family rental home industry that is institutional investor owned consists of approximately 200,000 homes in a market of 14 million single-family rental homes.

The association is forming at a critical time for the industry. This sector-institutionalized single-family home rentals-is still in its early stages, launching during the aftermath of the Great Recession and housing crisis when so many single-family homes went into foreclosure. REITs have formed around this asset class and already two debt offerings have made it to the market, with another in the works.

On the other hand, there is a case to be made that this market is already peaking. RealtyTrac figures reported in the Wall Street Journal note that institutional investors bought 44,087 properties in Q4 of last year, a dramatic slide from 60,648 in the second quarter of 2013.

The association, not surprisingly, begs to differ. "Rental demand in communities across the country is strong," says Gary DeLapp, President of Invitation Homes, in a prepared statement. "Our members are professionalizing the market, offering high-quality, professionally managed single-family rental homes to residents and families looking for an alternative to buying a house or renting an apartment."