Landlords Are Taking Over the U.S. Housing Market
As Wall Street backs off of buying rental homes, small investors are picking up the slack.
An open house in Seattle, Washington.
Photographer: Mike Kane/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
As rising home prices, slow new home construction, and demographic shifts push homeownership rates to 50-year lows, the U.S. is increasingly a country of renters—and landlords.
Last year, 37 percent of homes sold were acquired by buyers who didn’t live in them, according to tax-assessment data compiled in a new report published by Attom Data Solutions and ClearCapital.com Inc.