Lennar Corp. has put on the market a massive apartment portfolio consisting of 11,000 communities that could fetch $4.5 billion, Bloomberg Law has reported, citing people familiar with the transaction. The apartments are operated through a subsidiary, Quarterra, the sources said, with one person reporting that Lennar is open to breaking up the portfolio into smaller sales. JLL has been tapped to manage the sale.

The potential sale or sales come as the multifamily industry is dealing with a shifting set of fundamentals. Median asking rents just posted their biggest annual drop since February 2020, falling year-over-year in November by 2.1%, according to Redfin.

Also high borrowing costs have put a dent in investment sales in the category, along with every other asset in commercial real estate.

In general deal volume was markedly low in October, with the highest dollar volume for multifamily, which achieved $6.2 billion, according to Colliers' recent analysis of MSCI data. But that was a slump of 72% YOY and a 14% price drop. Only 255 properties traded – the fewest since 2011.

Still, there were some deals of more than $100 million, led by TA Realty's purchase of two properties in Cary, NC and Nashville from Crescent Communities and Pearl Street Partners for $204.6 million. Other significant sales took place in Denver, Raleigh, Phoenix, Randolph, MA, Carrollton, TX, Knoxville, Calabasas, and Eugene, OR. Perhaps Lennar's sale could change that trajectory in the near future