Haven Realty Capital has teamed up with an affiliate of Walton Street Capital to buy a $133.7m (€112m) portfolio of US rental communities.

The companies have bought the first phase of the six rental communities in the greater Atlanta, GA metro from developer ResiBuilt Homes.

The portfolio will include 537 newly constructed single-family rental homes spread across six dedicated rental communities in three counties.

The initial phase of homes was leased upon closing and the remaining homes will be acquired over the coming months.

Haven Realty Capital managing principal Sudha Reddy, said: “Late-stage millennial family formation, decreasing interest in traditional homeownership, baby-boomers looking for maintenance-free single-family home living and increased telecommuting – trends that pre-dated the onset of COVID-19 – have resulted in a surge of renter demand for single-family housing.

“We’ve seen renter demand increase for larger living spaces in less dense suburban neighbourhoods as families grow in size.”

Chris Turitto, principal at Haven Realty, said the first 113 homes in the Atlanta portfolio represent Haven’s first closing in what is an approximately $200m pipeline of purpose-built dedicated rental communities throughout the southeast.

“We are expected to close an additional 700 single-family rental and townhomes within the next 18 months.

“As we continue to add projects to the pipeline, we anticipate doubling the volume of deals under contract over the next 12 months,” Turitto said.

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