Corporate Landlord Activity in the Housing Market: An Exploratory Analysis of San Antonio, TX

Corporate Landlords are a growing group of owners in the U.S. housing market across the nation. Established research shows that the Sunbelt region is a specific area of the U.S. where corporate landlords concentrate their activity. Established research on corporate landlords in the City of Atlanta reveals corporate landlord links to increasing market share and displacement of residents in Atlanta. However, what is specifically unknown is corporate landlord activity in other Sunbelt cities. This paper looks specifically at the city of San Antonio, Texas, in particular Bexar County, Texas. This paper seeks to understand the evolution of corporate landlord activity in Bexar County's housing market. This analysis reports that corporate landlords in Bexar County favor single-family and residential inventory properties. Between 2021-2022 corporate landlords increased their ownership of single-family homes by 42.4%, while residential inventory ownership increased by 13.5%. Regression models show that corporate landlords owned single-family homes in neighborhoods with lower median home values and higher populations of African-Americans and Hispanics. The pandemic and years after accelerated this activity. The results of this analysis prove to be an important area for local housing governmental agencies to focus their efforts on.