Blackstone's Single Family Breakthrough Sparks'Killer' Interest

About 300 market pros packed into a conference room in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York Wednesday afternoon for a Deutsche Bank-hosted roadshow of the first-ever securitization of single-family rental homes, highlighting pent-up investor desire for credit exposure to the private housing market, industry pros told SI. As eager as the market seems, there are questions about the credit quality of the asset class and the safety of the deal's structure. The $479.14 million deal from private equity giant Blackstone was informally announced mid-week by underwriter Deutsche Bank, as first reported by SI (SI, 10/30). A formal announcement is expected Monday, and no price guidance has yet been issued. Scott Buchta, head of fixed-income strategy at Brean Capital, said there is "killer" interest because this is the first securitization of its kind. Market players expect the deal to open the door to others of its kind.