[Aethelwulf]

You are confusing the initial construction with the long-term ownership. Most of the time, the corporation that builds the apartment block will sell the apartments, not continue to own them and rent them out.

[throwaway2037]

I disagree with the second sentence. This is quite location specific. Where I live, many large high-rise apartment blocks are rental-only.

[astrange]

The developer and property owner are (usually) still different people in this case. Owning and constructing a rental property have very different risk profiles so the same people don't want to be in that business.

[Aunche]

Even if this is true, this is a distinction without a difference. If a developer can't sell their property to someone else, there's a good chance they wouldn't build it in the first place. If they do decide to never sell their apartment complex, they won't have the liquidity required to build another.