A Bezos-backed proptech is on a shopping spree

Arrived Homes, a real-estate investment platform that lets users buy shares in rental properties, estimates that it will double its presence in the top 100 fastest-growing cities in the US by the end of the year. The proptech has secured investments from Jeff Bezos’s Bezos Ventures, Marc Benioff’s Time Ventures, as well as the former CEOs of Zillow and Uber.

Why should we care?
Arrived’s mission is to “empower the world to build wealth through modern real estate investing.” But its success may actually cause the opposite to materialize. Over the past year, rent in the US has increased by an average of 16.4%, spiking as high as 32% in cities like Miami. While rising interest rates have cooled general demand for home purchases, bringing down the sticker price of houses for those who don’t need to take out a mortgage to buy a home, this same development has let Arrived take advantage of volatility and buy homes at a premium. A continued housing shortage will force more people to remain in rental units and contribute to an eventual return to rising home prices. Arrived’s income model, which hinges upon appreciating real-estate values, then further disincentivizes the creation of more housing stock, making an unequal housing system more palatable and desirable for a growing demographic of fractional homeowners.