New markets require new approaches and tactics. Experts and industry leaders take the stage at Inman Connect New York in January to help navigate the market shift — and prepare for the next one. Meet the moment and join us. Register here.
Home Partners of America, a Blackstone Inc.-owned rent-to-own company that stopped buying homes in dozens of markets last year, says it’s laid off an unspecified number of employees a week after the shutdown of its iBuyer joint venture, RealSure.
“In light of the evolving market environment, we have decided to reduce certain positions across the organization and increase headcount in other areas to align our staffing and resources with the current needs of our business,” a Home Partners of America spokesperson told Inman via email. “We are treating all impacted employees with the utmost care and respect and are focused on continuing to deliver best-in-class service to our residents.”
A source with knowledge of the situation told Inman that the layoffs, announced Wednesday, affected 10 percent of Home Partners’ workforce and included people employed in the company’s property management division, Pathlight Property Management.
A Home Partners spokesperson confirmed that workers at Pathlight Property Management were affected, but declined to comment on the number or percentage of employees who were affected companywide.
The spokesperson would not comment on what departments and locations were affected or what drove the layoffs but said, “It is business as usual,” at Home Partners. “We remain focused on identifying high-quality homes on behalf of residents, investing in the resident experience and delivering best-in-class service.”
Home Partners is a partner with real estate franchise powerhouse Anywhere in an iBuyer joint venture, RealSure. In announcing a new round of layoffs last week, Anywhere also disclosed that it was shutting down RealSure, which was operating in 26 cities in 13 states.
Home Partners had scaled back its single-family home purchases last year, halting sales in 38 U.S. regional housing markets last fall.
“We assessed several factors such as home price appreciation, state and local regulations, and market demand to guide our investment plans to best serve consumers,” Home Partners said in a press release at the time. “We hope to resume purchasing homes in these markets in the future.”
A Blackstone spokesperson told Fortune at the time that the company was continuing to purchase homes in “20 of the highest growth markets in the U.S.” and the markets it was putting on hold represented less than 5 percent of recent purchases.
Blackstone Inc. subsidiary Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. acquired Home Partners in June 2021 in a deal that valued the company at $6 billion.
At the time, Home Partners had a portfolio of more than 17,000 homes and a “strong and experienced management team” to purchase homes on behalf of rent-to-own clients.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Jan. 20 with additional comment from Home Partners.
Get Inman’s Extra Credit Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly roundup of all the biggest news in the world of mortgages and closings delivered every Wednesday. Click here to subscribe.
