Hailey Whitlock, Staff Writer

An increasing trend in 2025 is the purchase of single-family homes by investors. While this trend has been prevalent for quite some time, 2025 has ushered in record highs. However, before exploring the effect of heightened investor purchases, it is essential to first understand the current housing market. 

As it stands, the price of houses are continuing to climb while interest rates remain relatively stuck. These unfavorable conditions have prevented many who formerly would have been in a position to buy a first time home from making this large purchase. Buying a home is simply not affordable for the young adults of today as it once was. These conditions have prompted houses to remain on the market for longer, creating conditions that are not only unfortunate for the buyer but also for the seller, leading to homes sitting empty for much longer than is typical as inventory builds up. 

While this is a concerning development for would-be homebuyers, it also serves as an opportunity for investors hoping to purchase properties. According to a report by BatchData as reported by CBS, “As traditional buyers struggle with affordability, investors with cash and financing advantages are stepping in to maintain transaction volume.” These investors are able to pay in cash or through tapping home equity gains, avoiding the high mortgage rates first time homebuyers face. 

With these statistics in mind, it can be simple to understand how investor purchases have increased; the conditions are not favorable (or affordable) for many would-be homebuyers. In fact, this trend has spiked dramatically since the 2020 pandemic. Per Fortune, between 2020 and 2023, the percentage of homes bought by investors averaged to 18.5%. In quarter 1 of 2025, nearly 27% of the homes sold in this time period were bought by investors. This statistic was only topped by data that surfaced after quarter 2. Per PR Newswire, real estate investors bought 33% of homes sold within this quarter. This indicates that the problem is continuing to grow as the percentages continue to climb. 

BatchData Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Ivo Draginov addressed the statistics with PR Newswire when he stated, “Interestingly, while the percentage of single-family homes purchased by investors rose to a five-year high, the actual number of homes purchased during the second quarter of 2025 was 16,000 fewer than a year ago. So this relatively high percentage of home purchases by investors is at least partially due to overall home sales being weaker in Q2 2025 than they were in Q2 2024.” This statement indicates that while the percentage of homes purchased by investors continues to grow, this is in part due to typical homeowners buying less. If the traditional home owner buys less because it is not affordable and the investors buy at the same rate, the percentage of homes bought by investors would increase. While this is a plausible explanation for some of the variance in percentage, it is not enough to indicate the sharp increase of investor owned homes in its entirety. This indicates that as traditional buyers are unable to purchase homes, some (although not all) of this slack is picked up by investors with the chance to avoid high mortgage rates. 

For young adults, this message is certainly concerning. As young professionals face these increasing costs, high interest rates and increased investor purchasing, it makes the ability to purchase a home a goal that for many is not affordable or feasible. This has led to an increase in young professionals renting houses or apartments with roommates or significant others as opposed to purchasing a house as their parents or grandparents might have. For those who are lucky enough to be able to purchase a house, the age at which this becomes affordable is much later than in previous generations.