This myth needs to die. PE does not own that many homes. There was a small period in early COVID where interest rates were lower than cap rates. During this time PE, along with the investment market in general, invested in real estate including SFRs. That is no longer the case. It's a great boogeyman but trust me, having worked in the industry, institutional investors own less than 5% of SFRs.

Real estate investing in general went bananas during COVID (plenty of non-PE buyers as well) because it's one of the only ways the average citizen can access that amount of leverage.