Seems like an alarmingly big scary number, but due to the fact that there has been extremely low amounts of rental housing created by purpose built rental (PBR) housing for decades, and virtually all rental housing is created via condo creation and secondary rental of condos, necessarily if there is going to be any rental housing creation at all, it will be due to investors buying condos and renting them out.
As rental demand spikes as it has been, it makes perfect sense that investor interest and share of the market would also increase.
Now obviously, one can point out "near zero purpose built rental development seems bad!" and many have, but so long as condos dominate what is being built, a relatively high investor share is actually normal and required.
If investors for example were limited or banned at this moment, the most immediate net result would be increased scarcity for renters, and higher rents.
In the long term clearly there needs to be more PBRs, non-profit rental and publicly owned rental housing.
As rental demand spikes as it has been, it makes perfect sense that investor interest and share of the market would also increase.
Now obviously, one can point out "near zero purpose built rental development seems bad!" and many have, but so long as condos dominate what is being built, a relatively high investor share is actually normal and required.
If investors for example were limited or banned at this moment, the most immediate net result would be increased scarcity for renters, and higher rents.
In the long term clearly there needs to be more PBRs, non-profit rental and publicly owned rental housing.