Large landlords list more rental homes after investor buying ban

Institutional owners of single-family rentals are putting more homes on the market after a new federal housing law restricted their ability to buy additional houses. The shift matters because lawmakers targeted large landlords as part of a broader fight over housing affordability and competition for starter homes.

Parcl Labs, a real estate data provider, found that homes owned by institutional investors and listed for sale rose to 9,447 this month, CNBC reported. That is up from 4,166 on Feb. 1, when Parcl began its full research, and represents $3.1 billion in total asking prices.

Jason Lewris, co-founder of Parcl Labs, told CNBC that the pace of the change in listings bears watching. He said completed sales will take longer to show up because home transactions can take months, but listings offer an early view of how institutional owners are responding.

New law narrows what large landlords can buy

The housing legislation defines institutional investors as owners of 350 or more homes, CNBC reported. That cutoff surprised parts of the industry, which had commonly used 1,000 homes as the threshold.

The law does not require those investors to sell properties they already own. It bars them from buying more single-family rental homes unless a purchase qualifies for an exception, including build-to-rent housing.

Lawmakers who backed the restrictions argued that large investors, often able to pay cash, were helping push prices higher and making it harder for owner-occupant buyers to compete, according to CNBC. Support for a ban came from both parties.

Large investors became a major force in single-family rentals after the 2008 financial crisis, when foreclosures spread and bulk auctions became common in markets such as Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix, CNBC reported. Private equity firms bought thousands of homes, converted them to rentals and helped establish single-family rentals as an institutional asset class.

Big owners are net sellers this year

Investors that own at least 350 homes now hold about 589,000 properties, or 3.9% of the 14 million single-family rental homes in the U.S., according to Parcl Labs. The group accounts for about 40% of net selling so far this year.

Parcl Labs found that Progress Residential, Invitation Homes, AMH, Tricon, FirstKey, Amherst and VineBrook have all sold more homes than they bought in 2026. Together, the largest landlords have sold 3,180 more homes than they have purchased since Jan. 1, while still owning about 400,000 homes.

VineBrook stands out among the large owners, with nearly 10% of its portfolio on the market, according to CNBC. That equals about 1,900 homes with a combined asking price of $285 million.

Invitation Homes and AMH, the two publicly traded single-family rental REITs cited by CNBC, have 549 and 536 homes listed, respectively. Progress Residential, the largest landlord, has 143 homes for sale.

Stephen Scherr, co-president of Pretium, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that policymakers broadly recognize private capital’s role in serving renters who want single-family homes. Pretium owns Progress Residential.

Scherr said Progress is focusing on areas allowed under the law, including build-to-rent, rent-to-renovate and programs that can help renters become owners, CNBC reported. AMH began building rental homes in 2017 and has developed more than 14,000 homes across 180 communities, according to the company figures cited by CNBC; Invitation Homes bought Atlanta-based builder ResiBuilt earlier this year.

Institutional sellers are also cutting prices more often than the broader market, Parcl Labs found. Nationally, 38.7% of active listings have price cuts, compared with 54% among institutional single-family rental listings; since early May, markdowns in that group have widened from about 3.1% to 4% of asking value.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.