The current cycle has given rise to nationally oriented single-family rental businesses funded by institutional investors. This business is the creature of the huge amount of bank-foreclosed property that came on the market following the financial crisis, enabling the bulk buying of single-family homes. Single-family rentals have captured an unprecedented half of the total rental market over the past few years, and the public companies have been reporting rental growth on the order of 4 percent a year. In fact, we are now witnessing the purchase of new single-family homes for the rental market by investment institutions and the development of homes for rent by traditional homebuilders. The American dream of living in a single-family home is far from dead. For many, that dream will start with renting, before turning into owner-occupied housing.
