Investment in the U.S. homes market fell to its lowest level in nearly 10 years as real estate investors picked up 47,004 homes during the fourth quarter, a 3.9% year-over-year decrease. This is the biggest decline in a year, according to a Redfin analysis of county-level home purchase records across 39 markets.
Investors are facing the same challenges as other home buyers, including a slowing housing market driven in part by high prices, tepid demand with plateauing rents, economic uncertainty accompanying the transition to the Trump administration, and continued high interest rates. Investors are typically less sensitive to mortgage rates than regular home buyers because about 65% pay in cash, but loans they take to cover home-flipping costs and other expenses are impacted. Fears about not achieving an acceptable rate of return or having to sell at a loss could be weighing on investors, said Redfin.
Investor market share fell to 17% of homes sold during the fourth quarter, down from 19% a year earlier and the lowest level for the fourth quarter since 2020, Redfin said.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
