Do Wall Street Landlords Undermine Renters' Welfare?

This article investigates the impact of institutional investors' mergers in the single-family rental (SFR) housing market on neighborhood rent levels and crime rates. Analyzing the three largest mergers of publicly listed institutional SFR landlords between 2015 and 2017, the study finds that neighborhoods where merging firms had overlapping property ownership experienced a moderate increase in rents alongside a significant decrease in crime rates postmerger. The findings suggest that while institutional landlords leverage increased market power to raise rents, they also invest in neighborhood safety—through measures such as hiring security personnel and improving street lighting—thereby enhancing rental service quality. Moreover, the rent increases are more pronounced for properties owned by the merged landlords themselves and are weaker in areas with greater competition, supporting the role of market power. These results contribute nuanced evidence to policy debates on institutional ownership in housing, indicating both potential costs and benefits for renters and communities.