Camden executives downplayed the regulatory climate and operating challenges in their talk track about the properties. Under the surface, however, those challenges influenced the strategic shift and demonstrated how investors move capital into and out of states in response to regulation.\u200b<\/p>\n
They characterized the sale as part of an ongoing portfolio management strategy that reallocates capital into higher-return, pro-growth, pro-business Sun Belt markets while continuing share repurchases. Effectively, that means states with fewer, less robust tenant protections, which developers and landlords blame for higher operating costs.\u200b<\/p>\n
The cost of the regulatory climate and political activity\u200b<\/p>\n
Camden CEO Ric Campo provided an overview of the company\u2019s thinking, focusing on a new Colorado law \u2014 Protection Against Deceptive Pricing Practices<\/a> \u2014 that took effect at the start of the year.\u200b<\/p>\n \u201cThe good news is that in most of our markets, the reason why they grow so fast is because they\u2019re pro-business, pro-growth,\u201d Campo said. \u201cObviously, putting legislation like that in place is not pro-business or pro-growth.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n The law requires transparent price disclosures in areas such as utility billing and restricts landlords from charging certain prohibited rental fees. Nationally, tenant advocates ramped up criticism several years ago of so-called \u201cjunk fees\u201d that apartment landlords charged, arguing they added financial pressure on renters on top of rapid rent increases. Ancillary fees have become a growing revenue source for landlords.\u200b<\/p>\n Keith Oden, Camden\u2019s executive vice chairman, noted in the call that the Colorado law is expected to lower revenue this year on the nearly 3,000 apartments it owns in the Denver area.\u200b \u201cIt is a significant item for us,\u201d Campo added during the call. \u201cThe total value of this is about $1.8 million.\u201d\u200b He said that works out to about 0.19% of same-store net operating income.\u200b<\/p>\n It also costs money to battle undesirable legislation. Campo said California dominated political advocacy expense at 92% and worked out to 0.8% of net operating income at California properties. If its California properties have the same NOI as Sun Belt properties, the Sun Belt outperformed, he said.\u200b<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we close that portfolio, the political advocacy in the Sun Belt is pretty much zero,\u201d he said.\u200b<\/p>\n Selling marks a shift in thinking\u200b<\/p>\n Camden owns 11 properties in Southern California totaling some 3,600 units. They are 95% occupied and equally split between the San Diego\/Inland Empire and Los Angeles\/Orange County regions.\u200b Camden\u2019s Los Angeles and Orange County properties recorded the highest revenue growth in the company, at 4.3%, and ranked third in NOI growth.\u200b<\/p>\n Camden\u2019s San Diego properties registered 2.9% revenue growth, third behind Washington, D.C.-area properties.\u200b Oden said the Southern California properties \u2014 none older than 2001 \u2014 exceeded original expectations because of declining bad debt on the books.\u200b<\/p>\n \u201cSupply has not really been an issue in most of our California markets, but we do expect less of a tailwind from reducing bad debt as we move through 2026,\u201d he said.\u200b Bad debt had accumulated due to pandemic eviction moratoriums that Los Angeles repeatedly extended.\u200b<\/p>\n Still, three years ago, California\u2019s regulatory environment didn\u2019t bother executives much beyond the eviction moratoriums.\u200b<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia is actually a really good story in terms of being a landlord because just as difficult as it is to run properties, it\u2019s three times as difficult to build properties\u201d in the state, Oden said at the time when quizzed on whether it should leave.\u200b<\/p>\n With little new supply and firm demand, existing units can steadily increase their prices. That contrasts with Florida and Austin, where a flood of new units lowered rent prices.\u200b<\/p>\n Betting on supply-rich markets\u200b<\/p>\n Camden wants to build and buy in places such as Nashville and Florida cities, where executives see more future gains.\u200b<\/p>\n Alex Jessett, Camden\u2019s president and chief financial officer, said the company anticipates about $1.1 billion of capital being redeployed this summer from the expected midyear sale. That means mostly buying.\u200b<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re already evaluating a number of opportunities across all of our markets, and those are stabilized opportunities, both on and off market,\u201d Campo added.\u200b<\/p>\n Camden spent $423 million last year on properties as the apartment acquisition market showed favorable life after a sluggish couple of years. Apartment sales had stalled amid higher interest rates and sellers unwilling to lower prices. Record sales years turned into record lows.\u200b<\/p>\n A significant portion of the Camden portfolio is in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. It has three properties in the Nashville area and about 4,100 units in Arizona.\u200b Jessett said the company doesn\u2019t expect to expand into new markets.\u200b<\/p>\n The large supply of new units from the pandemic building boom has started to slow, and permits for new construction have dropped to record lows. Camden is angling for the upside when supply slows to a relative trickle and demand remains strong.\u200b That shift could happen this year or next.\u200b<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to have a situation where simple supply and demand economics work, which means that we\u2019ll have more demand than supply, and rents will go up,\u201d Campo said.\u200b<\/p>\n Chasing fewer regulations<\/p>\n![\"Camden_footprint_020926\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Camden_footprint_020926.png\")
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