3 corporations own 19,000 metro Atlanta homes. What does that mean for the housing market?

ATLANTA — A recent study by Georgia State University researchers found that three corporations own more than 19,000 homes in Atlanta’s five metro counties.

“Atlanta has more of these properties than the next couple of metros combined,” Taylor Shelton, a professor at GSU, said.

Shelton has published multiple studies on the topic.

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The most recent one found that Invitation Homes, Pretium Partners (which operates Progress Residential), and Amherst Holdings (which operates Mainstreet Renewal) own around 11 percent of all single-family homes for rent in the state.

“In smaller neighborhoods, sometimes that’s upwards of 50 percent,” Shelton said.

In those neighborhoods, Shelton said the companies can effectively control the rental prices.

While landlords renting out property is not new, the scale is.

“Just a decade ago or so ago, none of these companies even existed,” Shelton explained.

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According to Sheldon’s study, while each company targets different city areas, they usually focus on the same type of houses.

“The homes that most of these companies are buying are exactly the kind of homes that 15,20, 30 years ago would have been starter homes,” Shelton said.

The first wave of these companies buying properties came after the housing crisis over 15 years ago. Other groups continued to jump in, targeting markets in what has been historically affordable for housing, like Phoenix and Atlanta. These corporations bought more property throughout the pandemic, often offering cash offers that average buyers struggled to compete with.

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The result is a rapid rise in the number of corporation homes rented out to families.

“Whether you are renting or buying, the effect of these companies is they are driving up prices for everybody,” Shelton said.

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