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By now most everyone knows that the institution-
alization of the single-family rental (SFR) market
is a permanent trend. e pioneers in the sector set
out to prove that America's most fundamental real
estate asset class could be tamed, and they succeed-
ed. e returns that large-scale SFR is producing
is now measuring up to institutional standards and the management
is under control. It wasn't pretty, but the naysayers who said it was
impossible to operate massive national rental portfolios have been
proven wrong. e results are in, and the institutional investment
world loves SFR.
If history is our guide, SFR is going
to take its place alongside the other real
estate food groups, most notably multi-
family housing, and become a largely
institution-owned asset class. e stage
is set and the path has been cleared, so
what is happening now, and next?
SINGLE-FAMILY V. MULTI-FAMILY
Multi-family and SFR are sister
asset classes. Two sides of the same
coin. Rental housing in America.
ey developed as asset classes on two
completely different tracks. Multi-
family got its legs in the 1990s.
When deregulation allowed small
banks to make risky investments in real
estate development in the 1980s, and
a market crash caused those banks to
I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T / G R E G R A N D
Single-family rentals can become a trillion-dollar
industry, following in the footsteps of REO and multi-
family. But how can it happen and what would it mean
for the market?
THE TRILLION
DOLLAR
CONSOLIDATION
OF SFR
