In a new report from Realtor.com®, real estate investors were found to have sold homes at a record pace in 2024, while choosing carefully which states they valued when deciding to buy new ones.
Looking at the raw sales numbers, investors offloaded about 509,000 properties last year, which was fewer than in 2021 and 2022, but significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.
“The reason behind investor sales has shifted since the (COVID-19) pandemic heyday,” says Realtor.com Senior Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones. “Investors may no longer be selling to cash in on soaring home values, but rather due to market softening and easing rents.”
Simply put, investors who own rental properties saw rent prices begin to slip, and they sprang into action to avoid losses.
Just under 11% of all homes sold in the U.S. came from real estate investors, the highest share in the data’s history going back to 2001, according to the report. The median sale amount for investor properties was about $330,000.
Investors, usually keenly aware of economic growth and housing demand, must balance home price with potential returns. Investors bought the largest share of homes in Missouri (21.2%), Oklahoma (18.7%), Kansas (18.4%), Utah (18.0%) and Georgia (17.3%). These states are generally affordable but have seen rental prices hold up better than national rents, creating an opportunity for investors. In fact, Kansas City, which straddles the Kansas-Missouri border, saw the highest rental price growth in the country in April 2025, but it remains affordable relative to local incomes.
The top five investor seller states were the same as where they bought: Missouri (16.7%), Oklahoma (16.7%), Georgia (15.9%), Kansas (14.3%) and Utah (14.3%).
Scaled by total home sales, Hawaii, Montana and Washington, D.C., saw the largest net-negative impact of investors on housing supply (more buyers than sellers), while California, Minnesota and Oregon saw the largest net-positive impact of investors on supply (more sellers than buyers).
Compared with 2023, investor buying activity as a share of purchases picked up the most in Delaware, Ohio and Washington, D.C., in 2024, while investor selling grew the most in Mississippi, Nevada and South Dakota.
Of the 150 largest U.S. metros, Springfield, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and Wichita, Kansas, saw the highest investor buyer share. Memphis, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Springfield topped the list of markets with the highest share of investor sellers.
On net, investors boosted demand, tipping markets in a seller-friendly direction the most in Miami, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New York City, New York. On the flip side, investors sold more than they bought, boosting supply on the net in Sacramento, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Portland, Oregon.
Investor competition was front and center for many hopeful homebuyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Low inventory levels meant that many buyers were competing with investors for scarce inventory, and investors often won. However, the housing market has shifted significantly since the pandemic-era frenzy. Inventory levels are returning to pre-pandemic norms, home price growth has leveled out, and rents have eased.
