16-04-2025
Private equity firms own about 20% of Richmond-area apartments
Richmond has one of the highest shares in the nation of apartments owned by private equity firms, according to a new report.
Why it matters: In communities where investment companies own a significant share of housing, residents tend to see lower housing affordability, higher rent and "aggressive evictions," per the report's author, watchdog nonprofit Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
The big picture: Private equity firms have been snapping up housing across the country in recent years, including in Richmond, where they're buying single-family homes, mobile home parks and even nursing homes.
Home purchases by investors more than doubled during the pandemic before cooling off in 2023 and then coming back with a vengeance last year, a Redfin report found.
The types of properties they buy may vary, but the playbook generally does not. When investment companies take over, residents often see longer wait times for maintenance issues, a proliferation of " junk fees" and rent hikes, the Stakeholder Project found.
These firms are also more likely to use controversial rent-pricing software that can further drive up renters' costs.
Between the lines: Just over a quarter of Richmond renters spent more than half their income on housing in 2023, according to Census data.
That data followed a report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies that found that at least 52% of Richmond renters spent 30% or more of their income on rent in 2022.
By the numbers: There are 18,460 apartment units in metro Richmond owned by private equity firms, or around 20% of all apartments in the area, according to the report.
Richmond ranks 10th in the nation of cities where investment companies own a significant share of multifamily buildings.
Raleigh ranked the highest with 35%.
Zoom in: At least a dozen of the private equity firms PE Stakeholder Project analyzed have holdings in Richmond, per an Axios review, including Blackstone, the largest private equity firm in the world.
