In recent years, large corporations have taken a chunk out of the inventory of for-sale homes in the United States — investors bought more than 18% of all homes sold nationwide during the last three months of 2021, a record high, according to Redfin. Some developers that have been in the business of building up the supply of starter homes are now selling some directly to investors instead.
SFR investors’ activity is driving down the number of owner-occupied houses and helping to drive up the cost, putting the dream of homeownership on pause for many American families.
Homebuilder Alex Kamkar was elected to the city council of Pearland, Texas, outside of Houston, in 2020, and has vowed to never build a single BTR home. He argues the industry is squeezing Americans out of the ability to own homes and tainting build-to-own master-planned communities like his by association.
"You [become] hopelessly addicted to being a renter because you don't have the ability to save for a down payment for the cost of a house that is rising and rising rapidly … It is 10%, 15%, 20% raises year-over-year, and they are actively touting this," said Kamkar, the managing shareholder of Bold Fox Development.
"They are telling their investors, 'Look at how much money we can make because these guys are screwed. They have no other options.’ What we have to decide as an industry of homebuilders and developers is, do we want to promote the crack dealers of housing, or do we want to promote American families? Simple as that.”
Source: https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/single-family-rentals/sfr-btr-investor-local-pushback-113668