Over the past eight years, as homeownership has declined, 4.5 million homes have been purchased and converted into rental properties by investors. Seeking to increase their returns and free-up capital for more investment, institutional investors have issued eight securitizations based on these loans in the past twelve months, totaling $4.4 billion. How high can this market go? Some have predicted that the market for single-family securitizations will reach as high as $1 trillion but the dominant presence of small investors in this market means this number is unlikely to ever exceed $20 billion.
And here’s why.
Small investors own most of the 4.5 million rental homes. The home ownership rate has dropped from 69 percent in 2004 to 65 percent today. This implies that approximately 4.5 million homes that used to be owner-occupied are now investor-owned rental properties. Most of these properties have been purchased and managed by small investors, with purchases by institutional investors representing 4-5 percent of the 4.5 million homes that have changed ownership structure, considerably more in a few communities like Phoenix.
via The single-family rental securitization market won’t exceed $20 billion.