The financialization of single-family rental housing: An examination of real estate investment trusts’ ownership of single-family houses in the Atlanta metropolitan area

Abstract

ABSTRACT Single-family rental housing (SFR) is becoming increasingly prevalent in suburban neighborhoods. Historically, small-scale investors have owned SFR, but since the 2008 housing crisis, it has become increasingly financialized—dominated by large, global investment firms. In the wake of the housing crisis, a new type of SFR investor emerged: the real estate investment trust (REIT). SFR REITs funnel large amounts of global capital into local housing markets. This paper presents an examination of the four largest publicly traded SFR REITs’ investments in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Using exploratory spatial data analysis methods, the study examines the intensity and locations of statistically significant spatial clusters of SFR owned by REITs. Then, a generalized linear mixed model is used to identify the property, neighborhood, and school district characteristics associated with houses owned by SFR REITs. Findings indicate that overall, houses owned by SFR REITs are highly spatially clustered in neighborhoods forming a U shape surrounding the city of Atlanta, and the locations of the spatial clusters vary for the four SFR REITs. Moreover, property, neighborhood, and school district characteristics differ among properties owned by each of the SFR REITs.