Publications
The financialization of single-family rental housing: an examination of real estate investment trusts’ ownership of single-family houses in the Atlanta metropolitan area
Single-family rental housing (SFR) is becoming increasingly prevalent in suburban neighborhoods. Historically, small-scale investors have owned SFR, but since the 2008 housing crisis, it has become increasingly financialized—dominated by large, global investment firms. In the wake of the housing crisis, a new type of SFR investor emerged: the real estate investment trust (REIT). SFR REITs funnel large amounts of global capital into local housing markets. This paper presents an examination of the four largest publicly traded SFR REITs’ investments in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Using exploratory spatial data analysis methods, the study examines the intensity and locations of statistically significant spatial clusters of SFR owned by REITs. Then, a generalized linear mixed model is used to identify the property, neighborhood, and school district characteristics associated with houses owned by SFR REITs. Findings indicate that overall, houses owned by SFR REITs are highly spatially clustered in neighborhoods forming a U shape surrounding the city of Atlanta, and the locations of the spatial clusters vary for the four SFR REITs. Moreover, property, neighborhood, and school district characteristics differ among properties owned by each of the SFR REITs.
A latent profile analysis of suburban single-family rental housing (SFR) neighborhoods
Single-family rental housing (SFR) is an increasingly prevalent form of housing tenure in U.S. suburban neighborhoods, representing a paradigm shift in how households gain access to a suburban single-family home. This article uses latent profile analysis (LPA) to classify the types of suburban neighborhoods in the 20 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in which high rates of SFR are located. Findings indicate that concentrations of SFR are located in the following types of suburban neighborhoods: diverse middle-class, older white middle-class, low-income Hispanic, low-income black, and affluent. The study finds that the composition of high-SFR neighborhoods among and within metropolitan areas varies substantially. The article examines the variation in the types of high-SFR neighborhoods for the 20 metropolitan areas, then presents a detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of high-SFR neighborhood types in three metropolitan areas.
Assessing the effect of mansionization on nearby single-family house sales prices
Using observed single-family house sales in the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago from 2010 through 2017, this paper uses a multilevel mixed-effects model with crossed random effects to estimate the effect that millennium mansions—new, large single-family houses—have on the sales prices of nearby single-family houses. Controlling for property, sale timing, and surrounding neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, the study finds that mansionization is associated with an increase in the sales prices of neighboring houses. Long-term residents of a neighborhood undergoing mansionization should not fear a decrease in their house values; however, decreases in neighborhood affordability may result in exclusionary displacement.
A typology of mansionization in the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, 2000-2015
Mansionization—the process in which original single-family houses are demolished and replaced with larger houses—in the older inner-ring suburbs of U.S. cities is a contentious and important driver of physical, social, and economic neighborhood change, yet little is known about how the mansionization process varies across the diverse inner-ring suburban landscape. With a focus on the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago located in Cook County, Illinois, this study presents a typology of mansionization based upon the housing, population, and household characteristics; economic status; and race and ethnicity of the neighborhoods in which mansionization occurs. Principal components analysis followed by cluster analysis are used to identify five distinct types of mansionization in the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago: highly affluent, upper middle class, postwar ethnoburb, white middle class, and diverse working class. Although mansionization is often perceived as a single process, findings reveal that it occurs in a variety of places and manifests in a variety of ways. The regulatory approaches of municipalities with differing types of suburban mansionization are discussed.