Mom and Pop Make Way for Institutional Investors in the Landlord Business

"Institutional investors own a growing share of rental properties in the United States," reports Michael Kolomatsky.

That conclusion is drawn from data analyzed in a recent report by the Harvard Joint Center fort Housing Studies.

"Individual investors still own more individual rental properties, as they did in 2001," adds Kolomatsky. "But as of 2015, institutional investors — all other landlords, including partnerships, companies, trustees for estates and nonprofit organizations — made gains across rental properties of all sizes."

Another wrinkle examined in the report is the question about whether institutions are better landlords than mom and pop businesses. According to Kolomatsky, "while the Harvard group cited evidence that institutional landlords may be more likely to initiate evictions, it conceded that the jury is still out on what kind of landlords institutional investors make."