Small Investors Now Account for 66% of Investor Home Purchases

Small investors made up 66.2% of investor home purchases in the first half of 2026, according to the Realtor.com 2026 Investor Report. They haven’t had a share this high in at least 15 years.

Over the same stretch, large and mega investors sold more homes than they bought. 

Investors as a group haven’t left the market, but they are buying fewer homes, and the mix of who’s buying looks different from a few years ago. 

Here’s what the data shows and what it means for your conversations with buyers and sellers.

Investors Are Holding Their Share While Buying Fewer Homes

Investors as a whole bought fewer homes in the first half of 2026, and their slice of the market barely moved. 

Here’s how the report’s numbers break down:

• Investors made up 10.7% of home purchases, close to their share in recent years
• The number of homes investors bought fell to its lowest first-half level since 2020
• Investor selling eased a bit, and its share of home sales stayed above pandemic-era and pre-pandemic levels

For the pre-pandemic comparison, Realtor.com used averages from 2017 through 2019.

The report reads these trends as a sign of a cooler market. Different kinds of investors are moving in different directions.

Small Investors Now Make Up Two-Thirds of Investor Purchases

Before getting into who’s buying, let’s get clear on who Realtor.com counts as an investor. The report uses deed records to track homes bought by companies or other legal entities, such as:

• Limited liability companies (LLCs)
• Limited partnerships and general partnerships
• Trusts
• Real estate investment trusts (REITs)

The home also has to be a rental or a property the owner doesn’t live in. Someone who buys a rental in their own name wouldn’t count. The report also leaves out purchases by builders, relocation companies, iBuyers and financial institutions.

Realtor.com then groups investors by how many homes they’ve bought across the full data set:

• Small: 1 to 10 purchases
• Medium: 11 to 50
• Large: 51 to 350
• Mega: 351 or more

These groups are based on each investor’s all-time purchase count. A company that bought 400 homes over the years counts as a mega investor even if it bought two this year.

Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, said the bigger story is who’s doing the buying.

“Investor buying eased, but the bigger shift is who is buying. Small investors made up 66.2% of investor purchases, while large and mega investors sold more homes than they bought.”

Large and mega investors have pulled back on buying. Small and medium investors were net buyers through the first half of the year, which means they bought more homes than they sold.

Cash Remains the Calling Card for Investor Buyers

Investors pay all cash far more often than the market as a whole. Here’s how the first half of 2026 compares with recent years:

• 55.5% of investor purchases were all-cash
• 30.0% of purchases marketwide were all-cash
• The investor all-cash share hit a recent peak near 68% in 2021 and 2022

The report gives two reasons investors lean on cash. First, loans for investment properties can come with higher interest rates, bigger down payment requirements, and more restrictions.

Second, investors can have greater access to capital than typical buyers. Rising inventory and a softer market cut into all-cash buying in the first half of 2026, for investors and for the market overall.

Jones described what the cash numbers say about the market.

“Cash still sets investor purchases apart, even though its use has eased from recent highs. That’s one sign the market has moved away from its pandemic-era intensity, even as investors remain an important part of home buying.”

Affordable Midwest and Inventory-Rich Sun Belt Markets Draw Investors

Investor buying is concentrated in the Midwest and the Sun Belt, and the reasons differ by region. 

Jones explained what’s drawing investors to each one.

“Investor activity reflects local market conditions. Affordability supports activity in the Midwest, while available inventory and softer prices create opportunities in parts of the Sun Belt.”

Realtor.com’s metro analysis covers the 50 largest U.S. metros by transaction volume. These five had the largest investor share of home purchases in the first half of 2026. The year-over-year change in that share is in parentheses.

• Memphis, TN-MS-AR: 20.5% (down 3.2%)
• St. Louis, MO-IL: 20.0% (down 0.7%)
• Kansas City, MO-KS: 19.1% (down 1.1%)
• Wichita, KS: 18.0% (up 0.3%)
• Toledo, OH: 17.3% (up 4.1%)

These five metros had the smallest investor share:

• Colorado Springs, CO: 3.6% (down 1.1%)
• Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA: 4.9% (down 0.2%)
• Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA: 5.7% (no change)
• Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT: 5.7% (down 1.5%)
• New Haven, CT: 5.7% (down 2.4%)

What investors pay compared with other buyers varies by metro. In Memphis, the median investor purchase price was $126,500, compared with a median purchase price of $250,000 for the metro. 

In Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, investors paid more, with a median investor purchase price of $757,500 compared with $737,500 for the metro.

The Play for Real Estate Agents

The investor on the other side of a deal is more likely to be a smaller operator with a handful of properties. And your buyers are more likely to find themselves competing with small and medium investors, rather than large ones, for available listings. 

Keep in mind, too, that your sellers are going to want to know their competition and what buyer incentives they’re offering local home shoppers.

Since small investors are the ones buying, and they tend to work with local agents who know their market, getting to know the small investors in your area makes you the person whose name comes to mind when they’re ready for their next property. 

You can also stay in touch with investor owners who may be ready to sell.

Here’s how you can put the report’s findings to work:

• Build relationships with small investors. They made up two-thirds of investor purchases in the first half of 2026.
• Prepare entry-level buyers for investor competition. The typical investor purchase price ran 22.4% below the non-investor median. The report says that could mean small investors are competing with entry-level buyers, or it could mean they’re focusing on lower-priced markets.
• Ask about financing on investor offers. All-cash investor purchases have dropped from their 2021 and 2022 peak, so an investor offer may come with a loan attached.
• Treat investor owners as potential sellers. Large and mega investors sold more homes than they bought, and investor selling remains above pre-pandemic levels.
• Check your metro’s investor numbers before advising clients. Among the 50 largest metros, investor share ranged from 20.5% in Memphis to 3.6% in Colorado Springs.

Knowing which investors are buying and selling near you will better prepare you to guide your clients and spot the best opportunities for them.