BatchData: Investors Account For One-Third of Q2 Home Purchases

(Illustration: Image courtesy of Kindel Media/pexels.com)

Real estate investors purchased 33% of all single-family residential properties sold in the second quarter–the highest percentage of investor purchases in the last five years–according to BatchData.io, Phoenix.

BatchData’s newest Investor Pulse report noted the percentage of homes purchased by investors increased from just under 27% in the first quarter and from 25.7% in 2024. Investors continue to own roughly 20% of the 86 million single-family residential homes in the country.

“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,” BatchData co-founder and chief innovation officer Ivo Draginov said. “So the relatively high percentage of home purchases by investors is at least partly due to overall home sales being weaker in Q2 2025 than they were in Q2 2024.”

Mom-and-Pop Investors Continue to Dominate Investor Activity

Small investors who own between one and five properties held 87% of the single-family homes owned by investors; those owning six to 10 properties owned another 4%, the report found. “So, contrary to popular opinion, the real estate investment market is not controlled by large institutional investors,” BatchData said. “In fact, the largest investors–those owning 1,000 or more properties–account for just 2% of all investor-owned homes.”

Significantly, the largest investors appear to be pruning their inventory rather than adding to it, BatchData noted: the second quarter was the sixth consecutive quarter where the largest investors sold more properties (5,801) than they bought (4,069).

Three Largest States Have Highest Number of Investor Homes

Texas has the highest number of investor-owned homes at 1.46 million, followed by California with 1.33 million and Florida with 1.1 million, the report said. These high numbers align with population: California is the most populous state, with nearly 40 million residents; Texas has the second-highest population at over 31 million; and Florida is next in line with more than 23 million residents. 

Investors Continue to Focus on Lower-Priced Properties

Investors paid an average of $455,481 per home in the second quarter–well below the $512,800 average market price and $410,800 median–indicating a continuing focus on value-oriented segments, such as smaller homes or homes in less expensive markets. “Large investors operate in an even lower price tier, averaging $279,889 for purchases and $334,787 for sales,” the report said. “Institutional investors have focused on geographies in the Midwest and South where both purchase and sales prices are well below national numbers.”