Are Massive Portfolios for Real Estate Investment Trusts Bad for Neighborhoods?

Nashville stakeholders are increasingly concerned by a post-Recession wave of real estate investment trusts buying up all the housing stock in neighborhoods gutted by the foreclosure crisis. The trend extends to other Sun Belt cities as well.

1 minute read

October 16, 2017, 6:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Downtown Nashville

Henryk Sadura / Shutterstock

Researchers in Nashville have noticed the increasing reach of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Nashville, and have decided to study the effects of such large-scale investments on the city's neighborhoods.

Mike Reicher reports on the big question from the Nashville real estate market:

They want to figure out whether these real estate investment trusts, or REITs, drive up sales prices because of increased competition and worsen the region’s affordable housing crisis. In the neighborhoods they target, do fewer people own their own homes? Do REITs increase rents at a faster pace than others? And what type of neighborhoods do the companies pick in the first place?

The research project is under the direction of Ken Chilton, associate professor in the Department of Public Administration at Tennessee State University, and Robert Silverman, a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo in New York.

The research follows analysis from August by the Tennessean, which "found that six out-of-state investment groups own at least 4,900 homes in Smyrna, Murfreesboro, Antioch, Spring Hill, Mt. Juliet and several other fast-growing neighborhoods."

Friday, October 13, 2017 in Tennessean

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 23, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

Millbrae BART station.

HSR Reaches Key Settlement in Northern California City

The state’s high-speed rail authority reached an agreement with Millbrae, a key city on the train’s proposed route to San Francisco.

April 24 - San Diego Post

Spiral ramp on exterior of parking garage in downtown Spokane, Washington.

Washington State Legislature Passes Parking Reform Bill

A bill that would limit parking requirements for new developments is headed to the governor’s desk.

April 24 - OPB

Missouri state capitol dome in Jefferson City, MO.

Missouri Law Would Ban Protections for Housing Voucher Users

A state law seeks to overturn source-of-income discrimination bans passed by several Missouri cities.

April 24 - Missouri Independent