Blackstone in the house

Since the global financial crisis, among the most prolific investors in urban rental housing around the world have been asset management firms. Various commentators have observed that as time has passed, such firms have increasingly become long-term investors in housing: holding it for rental income rather than seeking capital gains via the quick-fire purchase and then sale of distressed assets.

Needless to say, in such cases, increasing rents is a strategic priority of the firms. But the question of what exactly enables rent increases in the various cities targeted by such firms remains largely unaddressed. What are those asset managers’ specific rent-inflation strategies? What conditions on the ground serve to facilitate such strategies?

This talk explores these questions through a discussion of one leading such investor, the Blackstone Group.