New data showed investors stayed aggressive even as large holders cut back
Real estate investors continued to take an outsized share of the US housing market in late 2025, even as the biggest landlords sold more homes than they bought and overall sales remained muted.
According to BatchData’s Q4 2025 Investor Pulse report, investors bought just over 32% of single‑family homes sold in the quarter, down from 34% in Q3 but still the third straight quarter above 30%.
The report estimated that investors purchased about 1.32 million homes in 2025, a 4.5% drop from 2024. They also owned roughly 18% of the nation’s 86 million single‑family properties.
By contrast, Redfin data showed investors averaged about 18% of all home purchases across property types in 2025 – elevated by historical standards but below BatchData’s single‑family figures.
“While investors continue to represent a high percentage of home purchases, the number of properties they’re buying has actually decreased significantly,” said BatchData president Ivo Draginov.
“Investors bought about 292,000 homes in Q4 2025 – down 19% from Q3, and down 15% year‑over‑year. So once again, the high percentage is largely due to fewer home purchases by traditional homeowners rather than overly aggressive investor activity.”
Small players, tourism hubs dominated
Smaller landlords remained the backbone of the sector. Investors with one to five properties held almost 92% of investor‑owned single‑family homes, while those with six to 10 properties held just under 4%.
Large investors with 1,000 or more homes accounted for only about 2% of investor‑owned stock yet were net sellers for the eighth straight quarter, offloading 5,970 homes in Q4 while buying 4,336.
Tourism‑heavy states led on investor ownership: Wyoming topped 30.6% of single‑family homes held by investors, followed by Maine, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii.
Metro concentrations were highest in the Southeast, with Asheville, NC near 28% investor ownership and several Texas and Carolinas markets above 22%.
Broader affordability pressures
Other researchers pointed to the same imbalance between cash‑rich buyers and would‑be owner‑occupiers. Redfin reported investors bought nearly one in five homes nationwide even as their absolute purchases fell, reflecting “the overall housing‑market slowdown” rather than a fresh buying spree.
Previous BatchData report showed investor‑owned homes made up about 20% of US single‑family stock.
Laurie Goodman, a fellow at the Urban Institute, told BBC that institutional investors that own at least 1,000 units across three or more locations account for “about 4% of the single-family market” and that share has held steady as new purchases slow in the face of high rates and prices.
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