Where Have All the Houses Gone? Private Equity, Single Family Rentals, and Americas Neighborhoods

The document details the rise of the institutional single-family rental (SFR) industry following the 2008 financial crisis, highlighting how private equity firms like Blackstone, Pretium Partners, and Cerberus Capital Management have acquired hundreds of thousands of homes. It argues that these firms outcompete individual homebuyers with cash offers and impose high rents and fees on tenants. The report provides evidence of widespread eviction filings during the COVID-19 pandemic, often targeting majority-Black communities, and documents systemic failures in property maintenance. It also critiques the National Rental Home Council (NRHC) as a lobbying tool for the industry's largest players and recommends legislative protections including rent caps, 'Just Cause' eviction laws, and beneficial ownership disclosure.

• Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, private equity and corporate landlords have acquired over 430,000 single-family homes in the US, with five major operators—Invitation Homes, Pretium Partners, American Homes 4 Rent, Amherst Holdings, and Cerberus Capital/FirstKey Homes—cumulatively owning or operating nearly 300,000 units.
• The institutional SFR industry was enabled by government support, as 95% of distressed loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were auctioned to Wall Street investors by 2016.
• Corporate landlords have aggressively increased rents in specific metro areas; for example, single-family rents rose by 39% in Miami and 19% in Phoenix over the past year.
• Global capital is being funneled into the US SFR market, with investments from Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund GIC, Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board ($700 million venture), and Germany's Allianz SE (over $4 billion venture).
• Large SFR landlords filed thousands of evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic despite federal moratoria, with Pretium Partners filing over 3,000, Invitation Homes over 2,100, and Amherst Holdings over 1,200.
• Eviction practices by Pretium Partners' affiliates showed racial disparities, with significantly higher filing rates in majority-Black counties in Georgia (such as DeKalb and Clayton) compared to majority-white counties in Florida (such as Seminole and Polk).
• The National Rental Home Council (NRHC), while presenting as a pro-affordability group, is dominated by four companies—Invitation Homes, Progress Residential, American Homes 4 Rent, and Tricon Residential—and lobbies against rent control and tenant protections.
• Corporate landlords frequently fail to maintain properties, with reports of toxic mold, leaky pipes, and vermin; specifically, HavenBrook Homes had its rental license revoked in Columbia Heights, MN, for conditions that 'put residents’ lives at risk'.
• Tricon Residential has implemented a strategy in Charlotte, North Carolina, to purposefully decrease the proportion of tenants receiving government assistance to 'improve tenant quality' and raise rents.

APA

Baker, J. (2022). Where Have All the Houses Gone? Private Equity, Single Family Rentals, and Americas Neighborhoods. Private Equity Stakeholder Project. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Jim-Baker-PESP-statement-for-June-28-hearing-Where-Have-All-the-Houses-Gonev2.pdf

Chicago

Baker, Jim. Where Have All the Houses Gone? Private Equity, Single Family Rentals, and Americas Neighborhoods. Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2022. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Jim-Baker-PESP-statement-for-June-28-hearing-Where-Have-All-the-Houses-Gonev2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Baker |first1=Jim |title=Where Have All the Houses Gone? Private Equity, Single Family Rentals, and Americas Neighborhoods |publisher=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |date=28 June 2022 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Jim-Baker-PESP-statement-for-June-28-hearing-Where-Have-All-the-Houses-Gonev2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{baker2022where, author = {Baker, Jim}, title = {{Where Have All the Houses Gone? Private Equity, Single Family Rentals, and Americas Neighborhoods}}, publisher = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Jim-Baker-PESP-statement-for-June-28-hearing-Where-Have-All-the-Houses-Gonev2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }