According to a report from inequality.org, the billionaire class and billionaire – backed private equity investors have become a driving force in the US housing crisis. The report states that increased corporate control over housing sector- by billionaire investors- are fuelling these trends and place significant hurdles to the preservation and creation of affordable housing.
How billionaire investors are causing chaos in US housing market The report Billionaire Blowback on Housing- coauthored by the Institute for Policy Studies and Popular Democracy- examines the myriad ways that billionaire investors are harming local housing markets and diminishing the supply of affordable housing. According to the report, the United States has roughly 800 billionaires in the US with combined wealth of $6.2 trillion, ultra-wealthy investors tend to diversify their holdings across multiple kinds of assets. The report suggested that billionaire investors have bought up an unprecedented share of single-family homes, apartment buildings, and mobile home parks to extract more rents from already economically squeezed residents.
It cited an example of Blackstone, the largest corporate landlord in the world, with over 300,000 residential units across the United States. Wealthy investors are buying up properties but holding them vacant to profit from real estate appreciation, it said, adding that billionaire investors are entering the short-term rental industry and…
