RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — This story has been updated to include quotes from Blackstone Inc. representatives.
Rancho Cordova is welcoming a new rental home community known as Tricon Sunridge with three and four-bedroom houses available in April starting at $3,059 per month.
But none of the newly-built homes will hit the market for aspiring homeowners as they were built in a trend real estate developers call "build-to-rent."
According to Zillow, build-to-rent communities consist of single-family homes built with the developer intending them for only renting instead of selling.
"This is definitely something we've seen on the national level. It's increased exponentially," appraiser and housing market analyst Ryan Lundquist told ABC10. "Big investment funds are sort of getting into the residential space to build units."
Tricon Residential owns about 38,000 single-family rental homes across North America, with more than 1,000 in the Sacramento area, according to Lundquist.
The real estate company was recently purchased by Blackstone Inc., one of the largest investment firms in the world.
“Tricon provides access to high-quality housing, and we are fully committed to delivering an exceptional resident experience together,” said Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, Nadeem Meghji. “We are excited that our capital will propel Tricon’s efforts to add much needed housing supply across the U.S. and in Toronto, Canada.”
Blackstone Inc. was previously accused in a United Nations report of abusing tenants with rent hikes, aggressive evictions and lack of adequate housing. A spokesperson for Blackstone provided the following statement in response.
“The false and misleading allegations were made by an independent, external advisor – not an employee or contractor with the UN. She does not, nor has she ever, spoken for them or represented their views.”
Further, a Blackstone representative said the firm recognized many people were experiencing extreme hardship and chose not to make a single eviction for non-payment across our US rental housing portfolio for more than two years.
Some Rancho Cordova residents wonder if built-to-rent homes will lead to prospective homeowners having less of a chance at buying a house.
"I think this is a specialty product for now. It's not happening enough to make a difference in the market. Now, if this started to happen on a greater scale, then yeah, that means that there's less units available for buyers, but I think right now we've had these isolated projects," Lundquist said.
ABC10 reached out to Tricon Residential for comment and a representative said they are looking into the request.
