If you rent a home in the suburbs, your landlord could be a Candian pension fund or a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund.
Foreign investors are increasingly targeting the single-family home rental market as more American flock to the suburbs for larger spaces.
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Covid-19 brings single family rentals into investor spotlight
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Investors building single-family rentals to meet demand
Foreign investors now account for almost a third of the institutional investment in single-family rental homes, according Alex Foshay, head of international capital markets at real-estate services firm Newmark, the Wall Street Journal reported. Previously, these investors were almost non-existent in the sector.
In January, Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board said it would invest in a $700 million rental-home venture through a partnership with Pretium Partners. Last month, German insurer Allianz SE announced a $300 million investment in a venture with American homebuilder Lennar to convert houses and townhomes into rentals.
And Singapore’s sovereign-wealth fund GIC plans to invest in single-family rental homes across the southeastern U.S, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Single-family rental homes have become an increasingly hot investment thanks to a dwindling home supply but high demand. An index that measures rents and occupancy rose 5.7 percent for single-family homes rose, while it declined for the broader real estate industry.
More than 50,000 single-family rental homes were built during the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2020, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. That’s about two-thirds more than the average over the past four decades.
[WSJ] — Keith Larsen