In what’s believed to be the biggest bulk “REO to rental” sale to date, private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP has paid more than $100 million to acquire 1,400 homes in Atlanta from Building and Land Technology. Demand from investors has helped push Atlanta home prices up 12.4 percent in the year ending February. In the past year, Blackstone has spent more than $4 billion to acquire 24,000 rental properties. Source: Bloomberg.com.