Investors Buy Inexpensive Homes to Rent in Minneapolis Area

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Investors from around the world are snapping up inexpensive single-family homes in the Twin Cities for rental.

Reports say in 2013 and 2014, national investors began acquiring several hundred single-family houses in the Twin Cities and renting them out.

Attom Data Solutions sales records show that in Hennepin County, investors have purchased one of every five homes sold so far in 2016. The numbers are the highest level since 2006, and 40 percent more than last year.

The trend has helped drive the supply of affordable house listings to the lowest level in a generation. Many of the investors are attracted by investment returns that are higher than those in bonds, commodities, savings accounts and stocks.