News Corp’s Realtor.com Investor Purchases Reach 11.3%, Small Buyers Top 63%
NWS•News Corp’s Realtor.com platform reports that investor purchases rose to 11.3% of all home sales in 2025, totaling roughly 534,000 properties—a 0.7% increase from 2024. Small investors accounted for 63% of those acquisitions, the highest share in over 15 years, while mega investors fell to a decade-low 7.5%.
1. Rising Investor Purchase Share
Investor activity on Realtor.com climbed in 2025, with investor purchases reaching 11.3% of all home sales—up from 11.0% in 2024. Roughly 534,000 properties were acquired by investors, marking a 0.7% year-over-year increase even as non-investor home sales declined by 2.1%.
2. Small Investors Dominate, Mega Investors Retreat
Small investors—those making fewer than 10 purchases—now represent 63% of all investor purchases, the highest level in over 15 years. In contrast, mega investors—buying 350 or more homes—fell to 7.5% of investor activity, their smallest share since 2011 and down nearly 70% from their 2021 peak.
3. Geographic Hotspots and Market Implications
Investor buying is heavily concentrated in affordable Midwest and Sun Belt metros, led by Memphis (23.7%), Kansas City (21.2%) and St. Louis (21.1%). These trends could bolster Realtor.com’s site traffic and ad revenue as entry-level housing competition intensifies in high-rental-demand markets.
