After rising exponentially at the beginning of 2022, apartment prices came back to earth by the end of the year, according to a report from real estate and property management software company RealPage. But for some private equity investment groups invested in apartments, rents are still climbing — and lucrative. Demand for new leases has also dried up thanks to low consumer confidence and increasing inflation, and net demand for apartments ended the year in negative territory, according to RealPage.