Report: Wall Street-backed landlords own thousands of homes in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte is home to one of the nation’s hottest housing markets, with many only spending hours for sale before they’re sold.

A new report shows that Wall Street-backed investors are competing for those homes -- and driving up the price.

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University City is one of the areas where investors have scooped up thousands of homes. According to the Urban Institute at UNC Charlotte, Wall Street-backed landlords now own more than 11,000 homes in the area.

The new report says that shortly after the recession, Charlotte started to see Wall Street-backed rental companies buying up single-family homes to rent.

Now, with houses in short supply and investors able to make all-cash offers, the report highlights that this might be pushing out low-income and first-time home buyers.

The study shows all the homes purchased by investors, and they are heavily focused in University City, Steele Creek and parts of east and west Charlotte.

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The Urban Institute analyzed data from Mecklenburg County which revealed that these investors are snapping up homes in the starter market, where the supply crunch is most noticeable.

The report also says that these companies are buying up homes in surrounding counties, like Union and Iredell.

Despite the large number of single-family homes now owned by investors, it’s still relatively small, accounting for about 4.3% of the homes in Mecklenburg County.

(WATCH BELOW: Surrounding counties not immune to Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis)