American Dream For Rent: Investors elbow out individual home buyers

No one would buy Dele Lowman’s South Florida townhouse when she first moved to Atlanta in 2008 — not at the height of the housing crash, and not for anything close to what she paid in 2005. So she short-sold it, eating the loss on the mortgage.

Since then, she had a kid. Got married and divorced. Left Atlanta and came back.

Today, Lowman has a master’s degree, works in government consulting and is chairwoman of the DeKalb County elections board. She’s also pre-approved to buy a home.

But the...