In recent years, private equity firms have increasingly targeted the housing market, acquiring a substantial portion of rental properties across the United States. This trend has significant implications for affordability, tenant rights, and community stability, raising questions about corporate control in essential domestic sectors.
Conor here: Within the realm of landlords, private equity has emerged as one of the most proactive adopters of software that facilitates the exchange of price and vacancy data—software developed by RealPage, which is owned by the private equity powerhouse Thoma Bravo. It seems to be a closed, predatory ecosystem.
RealPage and the major landlords employing its software to engage in price-fixing were largely spared significant penalties last year, receiving merely a cost-of-doing-business slap on the wrist after lobbying efforts associated with Trump. Moreover, the Department of Justice’s settlement contains ambiguities that might permit these entities to resume colluding on prices sooner than expected.
On a more positive note, Matt Stoller recently provided a summary of legislation making its way through Congress aimed at banning corporate ownership of most pre-existing single-family homes. Interestingly, this initiative is receiving support from notable figures including Trump and Senator Elizabeth Warren. However, there is an important caveat:
The proposed ban would halt corporate purchases of existing housing stock but would not apply to new constructions, particularly in the “Build to Rent” sector. Corporations would not be required to divest from the existing inventory of single-family homes—approximately 70 million homes—which effectively shields them from large-scale corporate buying.
As Stoller highlights, investments are increasingly flowing into the Build-to-Rent market:
Large construction firms are now collaborating with Wall Street to create single-family residences that are rented from the outset, rather than being sold. This “Build to Rent” sector expanded significantly, doubling its market share between 2021 and 2024, attracting institutional investment. This model enables Wall Street to manipulate housing supply, driving prices upward.
By Shireen Akram-Boshar, a socialist writer, editor, and Middle East/North Africa solidarity activist. Originally published at Truthout.
A recent report from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) indicates that private equity firms now own nearly 3 million apartment units in the U.S., representing one in eight apartments—around 13 percent of the nation’s rental properties. Notably, approximately half of these acquisitions occurred since 2021, underscoring private equity’s intensified focus on the housing market amid an ongoing crisis.
Private equity firms invest capital sourced from pension funds and endowments to acquire assets and generate significant profits. In the housing market, their strategy involves seeking unregulated rents and capped property taxes to maximize returns. The approach generally entails increasing the perceived value of properties before selling them at a profit.
The PESP report notes that nearly 1.7 million apartment units—around 57 percent of private equity acquisitions—were purchased since 2018, with 1.3 million bought since 2021 alone.
The report also delineates how the increased presence of private equity in the housing market “has worsened housing affordability challenges, displacing local communities through sharp rent increases, aggressive evictions, and declining tenant quality of life.”
Texas leads the nation in the number of apartments owned by private equity, with close to 580,000 units. This trend is likely attributed to the state’s lenient zoning laws, minimal tenant protections, and absence of a state income tax. While private equity ownership is also significant in New York, California, and the Washington, D.C. area, it is particularly concentrated in Sunbelt states, which experience weaker tenant protections and have undergone considerable population growth since 2020.
Blackstone, recognized as the largest private equity firm globally, stands as the principal owner of apartments in the U.S., holding over 230,000 units. The PESP report indicates that in some instances, Blackstone increased rents in acquired buildings by more than 30 percent since 2018. Additionally, tenants in Blackstone-managed properties have reported issues such as inadequate maintenance, aggressive eviction practices, undisclosed fees, and steep rent hikes—problems pervasive across private equity-owned apartments.
This surge of private equity into housing coincides with an era when many Americans find it increasingly difficult to afford rent, with nearly half of U.S. renters spending a significant portion of their income on housing.
“Our country is grappling with a housing affordability crisis. The last thing we need is wealthy private equity investors extracting wealth from tenants through prohibitive rents and hidden charges,” said Jordan Ash, co-author of the report and director of housing research at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP). “Policymakers must act now more than ever to safeguard tenants from private equity’s pervasive encroachment into the U.S. housing market.”
Though private equity’s intrusion into the housing sector has accelerated in the last five years, the roots of the issue can be traced back further. Following the 2008 financial crisis, private equity investors acquired numerous apartment buildings hosting thousands of rent-regulated units, pressuring residents to vacate to facilitate rent increases. Determined to maximize profits, private equity firms have often led the charge in hikes and foreclosures in the housing market. While millions of Americans struggled post-2008 Great Recession, these firms thrived.
A 2022 analysis from ProPublica revealed that the surge in private equity acquisitions in housing has been partially fueled by Freddie Mac, the largest rental housing finance entity in the U.S. Freddie Mac provided lower interest rates and other incentives that benefited investors. According to ProPublica, major private equity firms constituted the bulk of Freddie Mac’s transactions financing apartment complex purchases, predominantly occurring after 2015.
The analysis also indicated that another real estate investment entity, Greystar, played a pivotal role in linking large investors to apartment complexes by channeling funds from pension and hedge funds. Greystar’s apartment holdings nearly doubled from 2016 to 2021, amounting to over 75,000 units.
However, grassroots efforts against private equity have been gaining momentum, with activists and community members forming tenant unions and pursuing legal actions to defend renters’ rights.
