Demand for single-family rental homes has remained strong. The REIT’s occupancy level has stayed high at 97%, while its same-store rents grew by 4.2% in the third quarter.

Invitation Homes has complimented the strength of its existing property portfolio by adding more properties to the mix. It purchased 1,591 wholly owned homes for $557 million and invested another $37 million into 108 joint venture homes during the first nine months of the year. The REIT also expanded its third-party management platform. Add the incremental income from new investments to its growing rental income, and the REIT’s core FFO increased by 6.8% per share in the third quarter.

The REIT is in an excellent position to continue growing. Demand for single-family rental homes remains robust because of the high costs of buying a home. It’s currently 33% more affordable to rent than buy in the 16 core markets where Invitation Homes owns properties. That’s keeping occupancy levels high while enabling the REIT to steadily raise rents as leases expire.

Meanwhile, Invitation Homes has a strong balance sheet, giving it the flexibility to continue growing its portfolio. The company has agreed to buy about 2,700 homes from builders, giving it a pipeline of new property additions. On top of that, it can purchase single properties on the open market, acquire rental property portfolios from other investors, and expand its third-party management platform to drive additional growth.

Despite its continued growth, Invitation Homes stock has lost about 30% of its value from the peak of a few years ago. That has helped drive its dividend yield up to around 3.5%. With more growth ahead, this REIT looks like an attractive investment right now.

Mid-America Apartment Communities and Invitation Homes offer attractive dividend yields because of their steady payment growth and decline in their stock prices. Meanwhile, both REITs have a lot more growth ahead, and they should be able to produce attractive total returns as they grow their earnings and dividends. That makes them great stocks to buy right now.

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Matt DiLallo has positions in Invitation Homes and Mid-America Apartment Communities. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Invitation Homes and Mid-America Apartment Communities. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

2 Fantastic Dividend Stocks to Buy Right Now for Income and Growth was originally published by The Motley Fool