JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
THE NEW
GOLD RUSH
quiring vast quantities of homes,
fixing them up, and then marketing them as rentals. They arrive
at auctions or home sales bearing
cash, which gives them a competitive edge on millions of ordinary
would-be buyers like the Gilbertsons, who must finance their
purchase using borrowed money.
These cash buyers are also more
HUFFINGTON
07.21.13
likely to pay above asking price, local brokers say, which is contributing to the overall price increase.
One company, Invitation
Homes, funded by the hedge fund
Blackstone, has over the past year
spent $4.5 billion to purchase
about 25,000 homes in formerly
distressed housing markets, including 4,000 properties here in
the Phoenix area.
Most of these homes are former
foreclosures purchased directly
Phoenix bore
the brunt of
the housing
crisis, with
home prices
falling 55
percent
between
2005
and 2011.
Prices have
increased by
22.9 percent
since then,
causing a
boom in the
local housing
market.