Blackstone Group, the nation’s largest private real estate owner, has bought up 24,000 homes across the country in just one year. And now through its Invitation Homes hedge fund is reportedly turning its attention to the Central Florida real estate market, buying up thousands of homes and turning them into rentals.
However, some housing experts say that now that so many markets are in a low-inventory situation, big investors like Blackstone could corner the market and turn many properties into rentals, thereby shutting out individual buyers.
"The bad side is now that we're at a low inventory. The investors are still here, and they're competing against people who want to just live in a home," says real estate professional Ray Lopez in Florida.
However, a spokesman for Blackstone’s Invitation Homes told a CBS local Florida station that they’re helping to meet the growing demand for single-family rentals and added that the company tends to have more money to renovate the homes it purchases than the traditional investor.
Source: “Hedge fund buys up thousands of homes in central Florida,” CBS WTEV-47 (May 1, 2013)