Most of the investor owned single family homes in Fort Worth are outside the center of the city.

That was one of the findings from a city of Fort Worth analysis of data from the appraisal districts in Tarrant, Denton, Parker, and Wise counties.

The city analysis defined “investor owned” as being owned by one of 23 national level firms that are usually backed by private equity and are known to rent own single family homes.

While these firms often use a variety corporate names that can obscure ownership, the city tracked them down by finding common addresses, Assistant Neighborhood Services director Amy Connolly said during a City Council committee briefing Tuesday.

Homes owned by institutional investors make up around 9.6% of Fort Worth’s homes, but most were outside Loop 820, according to the city’s data.

Arizona-based Progress Residential, which is among the largest owners of single family homes in the United States, took the top spot in Fort Worth with 1,879 homes. That company faced criticism in 2022 for not maintaining 600 rental properties in Minnesota.

The company agreed to pay $2.2 million in a settlement with the state attorney general, which included forgiving up to $1.9 million in rent.

This latest analysis also revised down a previous report that said 26% of homes in Fort Worth were owned by companies. Additional data from Denton, Parker and Wise counties showed the number was closer to 23.3%, said Fort Worth Lab director Christianne Simmons.

More than half of the homes that are not owner-occupied are owned by small local landlords, Simmons said. The city defined small landlords as owning less than 10 rental properties.

This is just the beginning of the city’s analysis, Simmons said. There are still more questions the city would like to answer, such as the growth of investor ownership over time, she said.