Brought to you in part by
KIRO Radio's Tom Kelly digs deep into the Puget Sound real estate market
 Real Estate
Listen to the show
Hear Real Estate Today on KIRO Radio
Join Tom Kelly every Sunday at 9am on KIRO Radio to talk Puget Sound real estate.

Big investor groups take huge bite out of housing market

February 5, 2013 @ 7:29 am

Washington state realtors report that large investor groups were the most active participants in recent foreclosure sales in Pierce and Thurston counties, mirroring the national picture.

Hedge funds and private equity firms are looking to cash in on real estate, "rushing in to buy up companies and assets in every part of the housing supply chain, including undeveloped land, homebuilders, foreclosed homes, and building parts manufacturers," according to a recent CNNMoney article.

"A lot of investors see a short window of opportunity where there's good inventory on the market at bottom market prices," said Brad Geisen, CEO of Foreclosure.com. "No one knows how long it will last, so these investors are trying to buy as much as they can right now."

Last year, the Blackstone Group spent $2.7 billion buying up 17,000 single-family homes in foreclosure to turn into rentals, and the company continues to snatch up thousands more homes per month.

Pine River Capital Management's Silver Bay Realty Trust went public in December and, so far, has purchased more than 2,500 homes in once hard-hit housing markets to turn into rentals. It plans to buy 3,100 more homes, according to its recent SEC filing.

More Real Estate News

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (1)


  • Add A Comment

  • Concerned US Citizen wrote...
    Bubble Again
    February 7, 2013 7:14 am
    These investor groups have driven up prices in Phoenix by 20.3% year over year. These increases were only in the 8% range in the boom years before the bubble burst. Can anyonone say unsustainable bubble created by the Feds 0% interest rates. The Fed is going to crash the housing market again.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }