U.S. Single-Family Rental: 2020 Institutional Activity

The first half of 2020 was marked by economic uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, in the second half of the year, conditions in the housing market improved dramatically, and we saw tight supply and intense competition from retail buyers. As a result, institutional SFR activity in 2020 was relatively muted. We estimate that single-family institutional investors grew their portfolios by 1.5% YoY in 2020, compared to 6.4% YoY in 2019 and 9.2% YoY in 2018. In 2020 among the top holders of SFR, Main Street Renewal increased holdings by 10%, Progress Residential by 7%, Cerberus Capital Management by 5%. American Homes 4 Rent and Invitation Homes holdings stayed relatively flat.