The Wall Street Journal reports via Apple News:

If You Sell a House These Days, the Buyer Might Be a Pension Fund

Yield-chasing investors are snapping up single-family homes, competing with ordinary Americans and driving up prices

“A bidding war broke out this winter at a new subdivision north of Houston. But the prize this time was the entire subdivision, not just a single suburban house, illustrating the rise of big investors as a potent new force in the U.S. housing market…”

As the article notes, the spread of this phenomenon dates back at least to the post crisis era early last decade, when the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to zero and held them there for years. It coincides with a broad expansion in the wealth gap between ordinary Americans and the rich. The coronavirus shutdowns accelerated this trend as small businesses around the nation were closed, leaving a vacuum eagerly filled by megacorporations such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and corporate chain food services.

Tired of your phone maker hassling you with repeated operating system updates that never seem to fix the glitches that annoy you? Sorry, you have no choice. There’s no real competition and they all do the same thing. Same with your computer … it’s become a high maintenance trophy wife from which there is no escape. Tried to buy a TV that doesn’t have “smart” features that allow it to watch you?  It as if a new unelected government has taken over and you have no vote. Your corporate overlords dictate the terms and they’re either a part of your daily life or you have to live like a wilderness survivalist.

Soon you may have to rent your home from them.