A year-plus of Covid quarantines has created attractive investment opportunities in the real estate sector for private equity firms such as KKR. Offices are reopening, and investors are betting that people will once again want apartments and other homes near where they work.
Today, KKR announced the purchase of The District at Scottsdale, a 332-unit property built in 2019. The deal expands KKR’s residential real estate portfolio in the Phoenix metropolitan area to more than 2,600 units and approximately $650 million of value. There are still some good real estate deals out there.
“The District at Scottsdale is well positioned with a great location and world class amenities, supporting Phoenix’s continued growth as a leading destination to live and work,” said KKR managing director Michael Friedland in a statement.
It is not the just Phoenix market that KKR likes. Since October, the firm has invested in luxury multifamily real estate in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Boston and Brooklyn.
And it’s not just luxury homes. One of KKR’s competitors, Blackstone, is looking to get into suburban housing. The PE firm has agreed to buy Home Partners of America Inc., a rental company that owns more than 17,000 houses. I live in a suburban community outside of New York City, and I can tell you firsthand that the real estate market here has been booming.
I think PE firms are making a good move buying up properties at attractive prices, and I see this trend continuing as the economy opens up even more.
– Demitri Diakantonis
