“The recovery in real estate has largely gone to big institutional players. Recent data from the US Commerce Department shows that rental income grew the fastest compared to other asset classes since 2009. Of course as we have chronicled over the last few years, most of the distressed property buying has gone to the investor class. The gains in rental income only impact a small portion of the population but the growth has been astounding. Rental income is now up 85 percent since 2009. Even stock dividends up at 44 percent have not met the pace of change in rental income. The trend is reflective of the insatiable demand from Wall Street for rental property over the last few years. Right on time however is the small investor jumping in at a tipping point as inventories rise, big money slows down, and interest rates have an impact on the housing market. Some big funds are even selling into momentum.”
