- After the 2025 Eaton Fire, corporate and investor buyers captured about half of Altadenas burned-property sales, raising fears of displacement and land banking.
- AEI and USC economists propose a shared-equity model where investors co-own rebuilt homes with resident families to cut upfront costs while preserving occupancy and upside.
- Local nonprofits are buying and holding lots to prevent speculative takeovers and enable displaced owners to return in affordable housing.
- State and local proposalsincluding AB 851, acquisition funds, and rights-of-first-purchase measuresseek to curb predatory solicitations and protect long-term affordability.
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The aftermath of the Eaton Fire in Altadena has exposed a sharp clash between market forces and community preservation: damaged homes and burned lots are being acquired at high rates by private investors, many operating through LLCs or opaque corporate structures. During the period from February to July 2025, about 49% of post-fire parcel sales (74 out of 151) were acquired by corporate entities; pre-fire rates of corporate ownership for similar parcels were roughly 10%, illustrating a rapid acceleration in investor participation in Altadena’s land market.
To counter this wave of speculative buying and protect residents, several strategies are emerging. At the grassroots level, nonprofits like Greenline and Neighborhood Housing Services are buying burned lots, with a mission of returning homes at affordable prices to those displaced. This serves both to stem displacement and to purchase land before prices are bid up.
Complementing these community efforts, policy proposals seek to reconfigure the relationship between private investment and resident access to housing. The op-ed by AEI and USC economists outlines a model where investors become equity partners with homebuyers—co-financing homes (for example, 50/50) and sharing obligations and returns—reducing the barrier of down-payments while preserving resident control. Coupled with legal protections like Assembly Bill 851, intended to ban unsolicited offers on fire-damaged properties, and ideas such as a $200 million Altadena Community Acquisition Fund and Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) policies, the aims are to create systemic resistance to market capture.
Key risks and trade-offs remain. Shared equity models may introduce complexity in partnership agreements, valuation, exit mechanics, and potential conflicts over decision-making. For residents, navigating mortgages, insurance, and upkeep under these hybrid ownership models demands legal clarity and consumer protections. For investors, returns may be lower or more uncertain compared to land banking strategies. There is also a temporal dimension: without rapid acquisition and deployment of capital and legal tools, investors buying up land right now may lock out alternatives.
Strategically, Altadena is at a crossroads. Maintaining ethnic, architectural, and economic diversity depends on implementing these alternative ownership and acquisition models swiftly. The long-term health of the housing market will hinge on whether affordability and homeownership can be preserved in fire-impacted areas without undermining investment. For investors, shared equity or affordable conversions can still be profitable if structured well; for policymakers and community groups, the urgency is in balancing speed, scale, and fairness.
Supporting Notes
- Between February 11 and July 5, 2025, 151 post-fire parcels in Altadena were sold; 74 (49%) of those were purchased by corporate entities—compared with just 10% in the same period a year earlier.
- Redfin data shows that in the third quarter of 2025, investor purchases accounted for about 44% of vacant lot sales in Altadena (27 of 61 lots), mirroring similar rates in Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
- AEI/USC economists propose that in a shared equity scenario, for a $1 million rebuilt home, an equity partner might acquire 50% of value; the family pays half the down payment and mortgage, shares other expenses, and pays half market rent to partner, while retaining occupancy and gradually accruing equity.
- Greenline Housing Foundation acquired a burned lot using a $500,000 grant from The Pasadena Foundation; the effort is part of a larger land banking strategy to keep land off the speculative market.
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County bought a burned lot, plans to build a home and sell it at affordable price to the previous owner, resisting demands from landlords or developers.
- Assembly Bill 851 signed in October 2025 bans unsolicited offers on burn-zone properties until 2027 in California, to curb predatory tactics targeting fire-ruined properties.
- A proposed “Altadena Community Acquisition Fund” would inject $200 million to resource community organizations to acquire and hold Altadena properties listed for sale.