Legendary investor Warren Buffett once said that the key to investing was to “be fearful when others are greedy, and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
Real estate investors have taken Buffett’s advice to heart. While homebuyers have sat on the sidelines, waiting for interest rates to fall, landlords have been buying rentals at a clip.
A Surge in Investor Purchases
Over the first quarter of 2025, investors were responsible for nearly 27% of all homes sold in the U.S., around 265,000, a staggering percentage not seen in years, according to analytics provider BatchData. The number marked a meaningful increase of 8.3% from the 2020-2023 average.
The buying bonanza is not a blip. Data and analytics firm Cotality shows that investor purchases averaged 85,000 homes per month in the first half of 2025, virtually unchanged from the previous year, despite uncertain market conditions.
Thom Malone, principal economist at Cotality, said:
“Investors expanded their market presence significantly in 2025, building on historically high levels. This demonstrates their resilience in a high-price, high-rate environment. As these adverse conditions are expected to persist, investors are well positioned to meet rental demand. Their tendency to buy with all cash means high interest rates are less of a deterrent. Plus, current high prices can be offset by strong rental returns.”
One-Third of All Home Purchases Were by Investors
Investor purchases even teetered around 32% or one-third of all home purchases earlier in the year, before dipping slightly in June, traditionally a slow time for home sales. However, investor buying remains…