Investors now own 30% of metro Atlanta’s single-family rental homes

U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff on Wednesday shared new findings on how out-of-state corporations purchasing homes in Georgia are affecting the housing market, as part of his ongoing federal inquiry into institutional investors.

Speaking during a virtual press conference, Ossoff was joined by Dr. Taylor Shelton, a housing researcher and associate professor in Georgia State University’s Department of Geosciences, to discuss the growing presence of corporate landlords and the changing dynamics of homeownership in the state.

Ossoff referenced The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “American Dream for Rent” series and a 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), both of which helped prompt his investigation, launched the previous week.

The GAO’s report revealed that one in four single-family rental homes in metro Atlanta is owned by out-of-state companies. But Shelton’s latest research shows an even starker picture: about 70,000 properties in the region — around 30% of all single-family rentals — are now held by institutional investors. That’s roughly ten times the national average.

“Metro Atlanta has become ground zero for this trend,” Ossoff said, calling the rate of corporate ownership "deeply troubling."

Last week, Ossoff announced a formal inquiry into corporate landlords, focusing on four major real estate firms: Main Street Renewal, Tricon Residential, Progress Residential, and Invitation Homes. His office has already contacted all four companies with information requests.

The senator said he wants the investigation to uncover how these firms are influencing both housing costs and rental conditions — and whether they're worsening outcomes for tenants and would-be homeowners.

“Families who’ve been priced out of the market are now forced to rent from the very same corporate owners who made homeownership unaffordable,” Ossoff said.

He emphasized that Georgia appears to be particularly hard hit by this trend, suggesting the issue is more severe here than in most other states.

Though still in the early phases, the investigation has already included over 160 interviews with a range of stakeholders, including renters, local officials, housing experts, real estate professionals, lawyers, and prospective buyers.

“Over and over, Georgians are telling us they can’t find affordable homes,” Ossoff said. “They feel shut out of the market because of rising costs driven by large-scale, out-of-state investment.”