Black communities in Atlanta lost $681 million in home equity after corporate investors took over the real estate market

The American dream of homeownership is becoming increasingly costly for residents of metro Atlanta. Several factors have created problems for first-time buyers in the real estate market.

Rising interest rates and a lack of available housing have caused a crisis as the salary needed to afford housing increased from $59,000 in 2020 to $115,000 in 2024.

The companies wreaked havoc buying thousands of homes, mostly in majority-black communities. Three companies (Invitation Homes, Pretium Partners and Amherst Holdings) own 19,000 homes in Atlanta. Corporate purchases have had a ripple effect.

A new study from Georgia Tech found that Atlanta residents lost $1.25 billion in home equity, and Black residents lost $681 million. Neighborhoods such as Kingswood, Grant Park and Adair Park/Pittsburgh suffered the largest loss of $35-44 million

“Atlanta lost $1.25 billion in financial equity between 2011 and 2021 with predominantly Africancan the American neighborhoods carrying more more than half of the total loss. most The affected neighborhood suffered a loss proportional to almost 4% of their total household income,” the study said.

The study continues to highlight how Wall Street-backed companies have widened racial disparities in homeownership.

“Wall Street-supported the growing control of investors over–Family rental housing (FRH) only widens existing racial gaps in homeownership and wealth. ForFor example, recent research on metro Atlanta shows that large companies Intensively targeted majority-black neighborhoods with strong rental market potential reduce homeownership for black families

rates. Similar results are also observed in other metropolitan areas. Furthermore, the evidence demonstrates that, Compared to publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), private equity firms tend to concentrate their SFR assets in relatively less advantaged neighborhoods with larger shares black residents nationwide,” the study said.

Members of Congress attempted to address the problem with the “Stop Wall Street Landlords Act of 2022” and S.3402 “End Hedge Fund.”American Homes Control Act.

However, the study indicates that these invoices, “do not take into account small and medium-sized investors whocan have a significant concentration of ownership in certain neighborhoods.

About the author of the message

AR Shaw, Editor

AR Shaw is editor of the Atlanta Daily World. His work has been featured in The Guardian, ABC News, NBC, BBC, CBC. He is also the author of the book “Trap History: Atlanta Culture and the Global Impact of Trap Music.”