How Corporate Buyers Affect the Housing Market in the West

[Bradley Buxton]

According to a recent report, corporate buyers own about 3-5% of single-family homes in the US, but that number could increase as they see more opportunities for profit.

Some lawmakers are trying to stop this trend by proposing a new law that would ban corporations from buying single-family homes. They argue that this practice is driving up prices, reducing inventory, and displacing local residents.

In my market in Reno NV, the institutional investors were active in the past, but have stopped their purchases recently. This may be due to the high demand and low supply of homes in the area, which have pushed up the median home price.  I'm seeing opportunity buys with our clients finding and buying investment properties with cap rates above 6%. In Lake Tahoe Vicasa has been active but I'm not sure this would fall under the proposed law.  This current version of the law will never pass and could be an election bait but it's and issue that will likely come up again. 

Are Wall Street investors taking opportunities from other home buyers?  Is this actually happening in the West?  How is affecting your market?