SFR Investors Continue to Hunt Build-to-Rent Opportunities
Facing heavy competition and lower yields on acquisitions of existing SFRs, investors are betting on building new communities from the ground up.
July 19, 2021 | Jenn Elliot | WealthManagement.com
Earlier this month, global real estate investment firm Walton Global Holdings USA announced a joint venture with SVN | SFR Capital Management, a specialist in the single-family build-to-rent (BTR) sector, to developer and operate build-to-rent single-family rental (SFR) communities throughout the United States. The partners expect their first joint projects to start development in Colorado and Texas in 2022. These should be followed by the development of multiple BTR communities over the coming years, with the joint venture capitalizing on Walton Global’s 81,000-acre land portfolio and more than 180 already acquired master plans. In a statement announcing the deal, Jeff Cline, CEO of SVN | SFR Capital Management, noted that “with the continuing shortage of affordable homes and strong projected rent growth, we believe timing in the marketplace, land access and our strategic vision will lead us to become a leading group in the (BTR) investment segment.”
The joint venture is just the latest example of an increasingly popular play in the SFR sector. As SFRs have become an institutionally-investible asset class, the sector’s major players are positioning themselves for its next iteration—one that doesn’t pit individuals homebuyers against well-funded institutions.
“We are seeing the emergence of purpose-built single-family rental communities, or what we call the ‘SFR 2.0’ industry,” says Robert Sun, investment product strategist with global real estate investment firm GTIS Partners. “We are meeting the market demand for single-family housing through building new homes for rent rather than competing with potential homebuyers for existing homes.”
