Wall St is Squeezing Out Main Street

With institutional investors buying up houses to rent, the impact could be felt sooner than appreciated. While the size of the industry is still small relative to the entire U.S. housing market, every little bit counts when rising demand is already pushing prices higher, especially for first-time homebuyers. Investors could become more confident in the industry as an asset class, and homebuilders might decide they prefer the predictability of selling to build-to-rent operators rather than deal with the whims of individual homebuyers, shifting the construction market away from entry-level, single-family new homes.