a long stretch of historically low interest rates and recordhigh inflation propelled the housing market into a territory where many americans found themselves priced out of the market while the housing market appears to be cooling down some mortgage rates hit a 12year high last week further adding to the total cost of homeownership the idea of owning a home being a part of living the american dream is one that’s been fading for some time younger generations have already been putting off purchasing a home until later in life the current costs associated with buying a house are now making it difficult for wouldbe firsttime homebuyers to justify making the leap from renter to homeowner when looking at the investment activity of institutional investors including funds like blackrock over the past couple of years it almost seems like wall street predicted the current situation playing out exactly the way it is blackstone real estate income trust inc “breit” a nonlisted real estate investment trust owned by blackstone inc bx has made more than 22 billion in multifamily investments so far in 2022 with its acquisition of american campus communities incacc preferred apartment communities inc apts and resource reit nonlisted in 2021 invitation homes inc invh spent nearly 2 billion buying 4802 homes across the country and several other private investors have been buying entire neighborhoods buildtorent communities are being built in record numbers with 6740 new builttorent homes completed in 2021 and twice as many under construction as of the first quarter of 2022 buying an apartment complex acquiring an entire neighborhood or developing a buildtorent community may not be an option for most individuals however an increasing number of opportunities are reaching retail investors through platforms that are funding new developments and acquisitions through individual investors the jeff bezos backed real estate investment platform arrived homes allows nonaccredited investors to become fractional owners in rental properties with as little as 100 since launching last year the company has funded 88 rental properties with approximately 35 million in value platforms like crowdstreet and realtymogul offer accredited investors opportunities to fund largescale multifamily projects buildtorent communities and even mobile home parks while the projects funded through these platforms may pale in comparison to those funded by hedge funds and publicly traded reits they’re rapidly gaining market share and providing options to individuals that may otherwise get boxed out of the evolving real estate market see also real estate investment offerings on benzinga alternative investments