Investor housing market share dips but remains elevated

Investor housing market activity slipped in the second quarter of 2025 but remains above recent historical averages, according to a new report from Cotality.

Investors accounted for 32% of single-family home purchases in January, the report said. By June, the share had fallen to 29%.

A year earlier, investors represented 25% of the market.

“Investors expanded their market presence significantly in 2025, building on historically high levels,” said Thom Malone, principal economist at Cotality. “This demonstrates their resilience in a high-price, high-rate environment. As these adverse conditions are expected to persist, investors are well positioned to meet rental demand.

“Their tendency to buy with all cash means high interest rates are less of a deterrent. Plus, current high prices can be offset by strong rental returns.”

Cotality’s data show investors purchased about 85,000 homes each month in the first half of 2025, nearly the same as the 84,000 monthly average a year earlier.

That level remains well below the peak of 120,000 monthly purchases seen in 2022, but investor share has increased as owner-occupied transactions have slowed.

Medium-sized investors — defined as those holding between 10 and 99 properties — have driven much of the growth. Their share rose from 6% of purchases in June 2024 to 10% in June 2025.

Small investors — with fewer than 10 properties — continue to make up the largest group at 14%. Large investors (101–1,000 properties) accounted for 3% of sales, while mega investors with more than 1,000 properties represented 2%.

Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix and Los Angeles had the highest number of investor purchases.

Dallas led in total investor transactions but ranked only 10th in investor share.

Los Angeles, by contrast, had a relatively high share despite lower overall transaction volume.

When measured by share rather than raw totals, only Los Angeles and Atlanta ranked in the top five for both categories.

In most metropolitan areas, small investors made up about 15% of the market, while variations in total share were driven by medium, large and mega investors.

The report noted that Atlanta’s investor share would drop out of the top 20 without mega-investor participation.

Investor activity has followed a seasonal pattern, typically rising during the winter and falling in the summer as more owner-occupants enter the market.

Unless broader economic conditions change, Cotality expects investors to continue making up 25% to 30% of purchases in the near future.