Investor Purchases of US Homes in Q4 Fall to Lowest Level Since 2016

US real estate investors purchased 47,004 homes in Q4, the lowest level for that time of year since 2016, Redfin reported. That’s down 3.9% from a year earlier—the biggest decline in a year.

Redfin points to several reasons for why investor activity is declining, including a slowing housing market, tepid demand, economic uncertainty, and elevated interest rates.

In dollar terms, investors purchased $36.5 billion worth of homes in Q4. That’s up 6.3% year-over-year, equal to the increase in home-sale prices over that period.

While investor purchases are declining, they’re not falling nearly as fast as they were in late 2022 and early 2023. At that time, rapidly rising mortgage rates were stalling homebuying demand, making it more expensive to purchase homes and less appealing to flip them, Redfin said.