Investors Buying Homes 9-19-25

Investor purchases are typically reported as a share of total home sales, with recent figures showing investors buying around 19% to 26% of single-family homes, although this fluctuates. By early 2024, investors owned about 9.9% of all homes in the U.S., a figure that includes both small and large investors. The vast majority of single-family homes owned by investors are held by smaller entities with 50 or fewer properties, not large institutional investors, according to Bankrate.  

Investor Purchases vs. Home Ownership

Purchases: Reports from firms like Redfin and Cotality measure the percentage of sales that go to investors, with figures ranging from 19% in early 2024 to 30% in mid-2025. 

Ownership: A different metric is the percentage of the entire U.S. housing stock owned by investors. As of mid-2024, investors own approximately 9.9% of all homes. 

Who Are the Investors?

Small Investors: The majority of investor-owned homes (around 95%) are held by smaller entities with fewer than 50 properties. 

Institutional Investors: A much smaller share, around 1-2% of single-family rentals, is owned by large institutional investors with significant portfolios. 

Factors Influencing Investor Activity

Market Conditions: Investor activity has increased during times of low housing inventory and higher mortgage rates, as it provides needed liquidity to the market. 

Market Cycles: During the peak of the housing crisis in 2013, investors accounted for 24% of transactions. 

Post-Pandemic Trends: After the COVID-19 pandemic, investor activity in single-family home sales increased significantly, peaking in early 2022 at 28%. 

Approximately 20% of the 86 million single-family homes in the U.S. are owned by investors, according to 2024 and 2025 reports based on data from BatchData. However, this figure encompasses both small-scale "mom-and-pop" investors and large institutional firms. 

Breakdown of investor-owned homes:

• Small investors: "Mom-and-pop" investors, who own between 1 and 5 homes, make up the vast majority of investor-owned properties, accounting for about 85%.
• Large institutional investors: Firms that own at least 1,000 homes represent only about 2.2% of all investor-owned properties. 

Investor activity in the housing market

While the total percentage of investor-owned homes is fairly consistent, the share of home purchases made by investors has seen significant fluctuation in recent years:

• 2024: Investors purchased around 13% of all homes sold in 2024. This number increased slightly from 12.7% in 2023, even as overall home sales dropped.
• Early 2024: Investor purchases made up 14.8% of home purchases in the first quarter of 2024, which was a record high at the time.
• Early 2025: Some data shows that investor purchases climbed to 27% of U.S. home sales in the first quarter of 2025. 

This trend of investor purchases rising despite lower overall sales suggests that investors are returning to the market more quickly than traditional owner-occupant buyers who are deterred by high prices and interest rates. 

The varying impact of different investor types

The distinction between investor types is important for understanding their effect on the housing market.

• Large-scale pullback: Following the market peak in 2022, larger institutional investors have reduced their purchasing activity. For example, by the second quarter of 2024, six out of eight of the largest companies that own and lease single-family houses were selling more homes than they were buying.
• Small-scale growth: At the same time, small investors have increased their share of home purchases. This is partly because they are more likely to use debt financing instead of all-cash offers, which became less common among investors in 2024.
• Market concentration: The impact of large institutional investors is most significant in specific markets, particularly in Sun Belt states where they have concentrated their acquisitions. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+percentage+of+us+homes+are+owned+by+investors

The population of Cherokee County, GA for 2025 is estimated to be 299,460 according to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). This represents a significant increase, with the ARC noting that Cherokee County added 7,100 residents between April 2024 and April 2025 and achieved one of the fastest growth rates in the metro Atlanta area. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=population+of+cherokee+county+ga+2025

Comments

Single Family Home prices in Cherokee County have doubled over the past 10 years.

The US needs to expand the Supply of Single-Family Homes to allow “Supply and Demand” to lower home prices. Renting is not economically sustainable. Homeowners get to keep their monthly payments in their “home equity”. Renters permanently donate all of their payments to the Landlord.

New Subdivision development is likely to occur in the Exurbs bordering Suburban counties around large cities. The core counties in Atlanta Metro include DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett and these counties are severely congested due to I-75 and I-85 interstate traffic.

The Exurbs in the line of growth are north of Atlanta core counties and include Cherokee, Forsyth and Hall counties. These are the counties that need to grow jobs.

The population of the 11 county Atlanta Metro is 5.2 million.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader