Florida families struggle to buy homes amid corporate ownership boom
FORT LAUDERDALE - Finding an affordable home in Florida is becoming increasingly difficult for families as corporate investors buy up properties, driving prices up and limiting options for local buyers.
Ben Taheri, a father of five, said he feels the squeeze in his 3,000-square-foot townhouse but has few options to upgrade.
"It's okay right now, but as they get to be teenagers, it's a problem," he said.
Taheri wants to stay in east Fort Lauderdale, where his children attend elementary school, but he said soaring home prices have made that nearly impossible.
"It's really expensive. If you want to stay, you almost can't," he said.
State Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, said corporate investors are pricing out Florida families, making homeownership harder to achieve.
"A lot of Floridians are being outbid by corporations, so the opportunity to own a home is limited," Jacques said.
According to Jacques, corporations own at least 117,000 homes in Florida under entities such as Invitation Homes, Blackstone Group, American Homes, and FirstKey Homes. These companies profit by renting out the properties instead of selling them to local buyers, Jacques said.
A proposal to regulate corporate homeownership in Florida
Jacques is pushing for legislation that would give cities and counties more power to regulate corporate homeownership.
"When homes are removed from the supply line, it affects cost," he said.
Larry Revier, a real estate agent with Trust Larry Real Estate, has been selling homes for 40 years. He said corporate buying surged during the Great Recession and again during the pandemic, though it has slowed recently.
"When prices start to fall, I expect they will swoop in and buy again," Revier said.
Taheri isn't sure whether Jacques' proposal would help families like his. He believes homebuyers in South Florida need better protections against developers who purchase lots, rebuild, and sell for profit.
"We are competing against developers, investors, and speculators," he said. "We want a house-we don't want to make a profit."
