GAO Report on Institutional Investor Ownership of Single-Family Rental Homes

GAO Reports

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

A GAO report released on March 24, 2026, examines institutional investor ownership of single-family rental homes in six metropolitan areas between 2018 and 2024. The report found an increase in the number of investor-owned homes, though the overall percentage of single-family homes owned by institutional investors remained low, between 1-3% in 2024.

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What changed

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report (GAO-26-108675) detailing trends in institutional investor ownership of single-family rental homes from 2018 to 2024 across six metropolitan statistical areas: Cincinnati, Dallas, Jacksonville, Nashville, Phoenix, and Seattle. The report indicates an increase in the number of single-family rental homes owned by large institutional investors, defined as those owning 5,000 or more single-family homes nationwide and with a presence in at least five metro areas. While the number of homes owned by these investors grew, their overall share of all single-family homes in the studied areas remained low, ranging from less than 1% to 3% by 2024. The report also notes that these investors acquired homes through bulk purchases of foreclosed properties, additional acquisitions, and new construction, and that sales from their portfolios to owner-occupants were minimal.

This report is the second in a series mandated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, and aims to provide data on institutional investment in single-family housing due to a lack of public data. While the report itself does not impose new regulatory requirements or compliance deadlines, it serves as an informational resource for policymakers and stakeholders interested in the single-family rental market. Compliance officers in real estate investment or financial services may find the data useful for understanding market dynamics and potential future regulatory considerations. No immediate actions are required based on this report, but it highlights a growing area of interest for potential future oversight.

Source document (simplified)

GAO-26-108675 Published: Mar 24, 2026. Publicly Released: Mar 24, 2026.

Fast Facts

Millions of homeowners defaulted on their mortgages in the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Institutional investors—companies that own many single-family rental homes—bought foreclosed homes in bulk and converted them into rental housing. But how many homes do such investors own?

We looked at investor ownership trends for 2018–2024 in the Cincinnati, Dallas, Jacksonville, Nashville, Phoenix, and Seattle metropolitan areas. The number of investor-owned homes increased in these areas. However, the percentage of investor-owned homes remains low. By 2024, institutional investors owned 1-3% of all single-family homes in these areas.

Highlights

What GAO Found

Large institutional investors with access to cash or low-cost financing purchased foreclosed single-family homes in bulk across the country following the 2007–2009 financial crisis, helping to stabilize the housing market. Over time, these investors built large portfolios of single-family housing and became a growing presence in the single-family rental market, as GAO previously reported. In more recent years, these investors have increased their holdings through additional acquisitions and new construction.

GAO found the following trends in institutional investor homeownership from 2018 through 2024 in six metropolitan statistical areas—Cincinnati, Dallas, Jacksonville, Nashville, Phoenix, and Seattle:

The number of single-family rental homes owned by institutional investors increased in all six metro areas (see figure).
Number of Single-Family Rental Homes Owned by Institutional Investors in Six Selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 2018–2024
The share of homes owned by institutional investors varied in all six areas but remained relatively low overall. While these investors owned from 4 percent (Seattle) to 22 percent (Jacksonville) of single-family rental homes, they owned from less than 1 percent (Cincinnati and Seattle) to 3 percent of all single-family homes. The largest year-to-year increases generally occurred during 2021–2023 and declined in 2024.
Institutional investors acquired homes from owner-occupants, non-owner-occupants (such as smaller investors), and new construction. For example, 35 percent of institutional investor-owned homes in Nashville were acquired from owner-occupants and 15 percent were newly constructed as of 2024.
Institutional investors also sold homes from their portfolios, including to owner-occupants. However, these sales represented a small share of the homes they owned—never exceeding 8 percent of institutional investors’ holdings in any year in any of the six selected metro areas.

Why GAO Did This Study

Few public data are available on the number and share of single-family rental homes owned by institutional investors.

The Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, includes a provision for GAO to study the prevalence and location of institutional investment in single-family housing. This report—the second in a series—presents institutional investor ownership trends from 2018 through 2024 for a nongeneralizable sample of six metropolitan statistical areas (selected to reflect a range of estimated investment concentrations and geographic diversity).

GAO used property-level ownership and mailing address information from Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and its affiliates to identify homes owned by institutional investors—defined for this analysis as those with 5,000 or more single-family homes nationwide and with homes in at least five metro areas—and to assess the locations and characteristics of those homes. GAO also used the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 1-year estimates to describe housing market characteristics of the six selected metro areas.

For more information, contact Jill Naamane at NaamaneJ@gao.gov.

Full Report

Full Report (20 pages)

GAO Contacts

Jill Naamane Director Financial Markets and Community Investment naamanej@gao.gov

Media Inquiries

Sarah Kaczmarek Managing Director Office of Public Affairs media@gao.gov

Public Inquiries

Topics

Housing Rental housing Housing Housing market Construction Single-family housing Census Financial crisis Homeownership Financial markets Community investments