Private equity firms have been making significant inroads into the residential property market, a trend that has led to some shocking statistics.
Private equity has been rapidly growing its share of the housing market, taking advantage of a housing crisis and in some cases exacerbating it.
According to census data analyzed by the National Multifamily Housing Council, a lobby representing landlords who own multifamily properties, 38 percent of multifamily units were owned by individual investors in 2021, and investors bought 24 percent of single-family homes sold in 2021[2].
Before the Great Recession of 2009, financial institutions and investment firms focused on purchasing multi-family dwellings like apartments and essentially ignored single-family homes. But, when a ton of homes were suddenly being sold at incredibly low prices with low interest rates, these investors jumped at the opportunity to scoop up these homes[3].
Over the last decade, the number of investors purchasing single-family homes increased from 10% to 15% each year. According to data reported by the PEW Trust and…
