American Dream for Rent, February 9, 2023, American Dream For Rent: Investors zero in on Black neighborhoods
Wall Street landlords are more than twice as likely to buy homes in African American neighborhoods than majority white communities, the AJC analysis shows. Large investment firms, backed by billions of dollars, have scooped up so much inventory in Atlanta’s southern suburbs, experts say, they’ve inflated sales prices and wield outsize influence in the rental market, giving the firms substantial power to hike rents.
They also have the financial firepower to outbid regular homebuyers, becoming another barrier for renters in minority areas to own a home and build equity.
The buy-to-rent phenomenon is the latest roadblock to Black home ownership, housing experts say, in a long history of practices and policies that have helped fuel longstanding racial disparities in the U.S. and Atlanta.
