This report examines the ownership profile of single-family residences in 2023, as well as recently sold single-family residences (from 2020 to 2023), in Philadelphia, with a focus on large corporate investors. The study also seeks to determine the characteristics of neighborhoods with a high concentration of large corporate investors into residential real estate.
Among the report’s findings are:
- Large corporate investors own 8.8 percent of single-family rentals in Philadelphia as of 2023. This is higher than the national average, but not as high as in “hot” real estate markets such as Atlanta, Charlotte, and Phoenix.
- Neighborhoods with the largest shares of large corporate owned single-family residential properties are concentrated in West and Southwest Philadelphia. These neighborhoods are more likely to be distressed, lower-income, and have a higher share of Black residents.
- About 85 percent of recent sales to large corporate investors are in neighborhoods that are low- and moderate-income.
- For recent sales to large corporate investors, the average neighborhood share of minority residents is over 88 percent and the average poverty rate is 33 percent.
- Zip codes in Philadelphia with a higher share of recent single-family residential sales to large corporate investors generally experienced a greater increase in rents during the pandemic.
Large corporate investors could help stabilize the most distressed neighborhoods and improve the condition of the housing stock, but there are concerns that these investors could drive up rents, limit homeownership opportunities, and negatively affect the housing ecosystem. With more families turning to the rental housing market, more research is needed to understand the continued corporatization of housing and its potential impact on homeowners, tenants, neighborhoods, and the local economy.
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