Investors Effect on Household Real Estate Affordability

Abstract

We examine whether the recent behavior of real estate investors had an effect on housing affordability between 2007 and 2014. We analyze investors’ purchasing and selling behavior and study their spillover effects on the affordability of the local real estate market where they invest. We find that large portfolio investors decrease the affordability in neighborhoods, reselling a property bought at the 37th percentile at the 70th percentile of the market. We also find that in order to maximize yield, investors tend to invest in poorer neighborhoods, leading to a decrease in affordability for lower income population wanting to buy a property in these areas.

Keywords: Affordability, Investors, Housing, Resale, Mortgages, Signal, Valuation

JEL Classification: O18, R00, R33