While Families Hold Off, Investors Continue to Buy Homes

While many would-be homebuyers are holding off on purchasing a home due to elevated housing prices and mortgage rates, real estate investors are continuing to buy up homes. According to housing market platform Realtor.com, 14.8% of home purchases in Q1 2024 were made by investors—the highest percentage since 2001. Of these deals, more than 62% were made by small investors, or those who own 10 or fewer homes. The regions that had the largest amount of investor activity were primarily in the Midwest and South due to their affordability compared with other housing markets. In fact, Missouri had three of the top five markets seeing the highest share of investor home purchases during Q1 2024.

Investors in Springfield, MO, purchased around 1 in 5 homes (20.5%), which was the highest share among the 150 largest metros. Kansas City, MO, and St. Louis, MO, saw 20.1% and 18.9% of purchases go to investors, respectively.

Southern metros also attracted investors with lower-priced homes and rising rental rates. The two Southern metros that rounded out the top five were Birmingham, AL (18.7%), and Memphis, TN (18.2%)

Read more