Investor activity in the single-family housing market has hit a five-year high, according to a new report from real estate data firm BatchData. The firm found that investors accounted for 33% of all single-family home purchases in the second quarter of 2025, up from just under 27% in the first quarter and 760 basis points higher than a year earlier.
Despite the elevated share, the actual number of investor purchases was lower than a year ago. Investors bought about 16,000 fewer homes than in the second quarter of 2024, but weaker overall home sales pushed their proportion of the market higher. Investors now hold roughly 20% of the country’s 86 million single-family residences, BatchData reported.
The composition of that ownership remains heavily weighted toward smaller players. About 87% of investor-owned homes belong to so-called mom-and-pop investors with one to five properties. Owners with six to 10 homes account for another 4%, while large-scale investors with at least 1,000 properties control only 2% of the total.
On average, investors paid $455,481 for a home in the latest quarter, below the overall market average of $512,800. That figure marked a significant increase over the $387,633 average price investors paid during the same period in 2024. Industry observers note that investors typically look to acquire properties below both average and median home prices to make them financially viable as rentals. Many of those homes require repairs, with more than 85% of investor purchases coming from lenders, foreclosure auctions, government entities or directly from homeowners.
When it comes time to sell, more than half the transactions remain investor-to-investor. About 53% of resale activity in the second quarter involved a transfer to another investor, down slightly from 55% in the prior two quarters but higher than the 2024 average of 52%. The largest investors, however, have been reducing their exposure. In the second quarter, they sold 5,801 homes while purchasing 4,069, marking the sixth straight quarter of net disposition. BatchData noted that it was not possible to determine whether all large investors were lightening their portfolios or if some continued to expand while others pulled back.
The states with the most investor-owned homes broadly track with population size. Texas leads with 1.46 million single-family homes owned by investors, followed by California with 1.33 million and Florida with 1.1 million. But the highest concentrations of investor ownership are in smaller states with tourism-driven markets: Maine and Montana, each at 31%, Alaska at 27% and Hawaii at 26%. Other states with above-average investor activity include Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia, which BatchData identified as attractive due to affordability and landlord-friendly policies. Idaho, Vermont and Wyoming also reported above-average shares, supported by recent in-migration trends.
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