Large Wall Street investors are increasing their footprint in the housing market, like they did after the Great Recession, and some local and state governments are inventing new ways to prevent these institutional investors from cornering the market.

Sharon O’Malley reports for Route Fifty on the growing policy response to the large number of institutional investors buying up homes on the market.
O’Malley summarizes the current scale of the trend with data from Redfin (more specifics by geographic area are included in the source article):
In the fourth quarter of 2021, institutional investors spent approximately $50 billion to buy more than 80,000 homes—18.4% of all homes purchased in the U.S. and nearly 75% of them single-family homes, according to the real estate company Redfin. More than three-quarters of the purchases were paid in cash.
O’Malley also reports that larger shares of new housing construction financed by large institutional investors are being built to rent—increasing by 16% last year, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders. According to O’Malley, the increasing share of rental properties on the market as a result of these large-scale investments limits the future homebuying options of potential homeowners.
O’Malley cites several examples of local policy responses to the trend of single-family homes converting to rental properties:
- “Officials in the Atlanta suburb of College Park, where 75% of its approximately 14,000 residents are renters, turned away one developer who requested permits for a build-to-rent subdivision of new single-family homes that would never be offered for sale.”
- “Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has said he wants the city, where the median home price rose 14% over the past year to $426,000, to place limits on how much real estate institutional investors may purchase.”
- The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority earlier this year spent $14.5 million for 195 houses throughout Cincinnati and surrounding Hamilton County to prevent institutional investors from buying the properties, in news shared by Planetizen at the time.
Higher levels of government have also entered the fray. California approved Senate Bill 1079 in 2021 to reduce the advantage of large institutional investors in foreclosure auctions. “[T]he Georgia General Assembly considered a bill earlier this year that would have stopped cities from placing restrictions on build-to-rent subdivisions,” report O’Malley, but the bill failed. Other legislative efforts in Ohio and California are included in the article.
FULL STORY: Governments Begin Pushing Back on Investors Snatching Up Homes

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

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie