There’s been a lot of chatter lately about investors in the housing market.

 

Some headlines make it seem like big Wall Street firms are scooping up everything out there. And if you’re trying to buy a home, it can start to feel like the odds are stacked against you.

 

But when you actually dig into the data, a pretty different picture starts to come into focus.

 

But when you actually dig into the data, a pretty different picture starts to come into focus.

 

 

 

It could be someone with a second home like a vacation place at the river a neighbor with a couple of rental properties, or even a homeowner who tried to sell, didn’t get the price they wanted, and decided to rent it out instead.

 

And when all those groups get lumped together in the headlines, the number can sound pretty high especially if you’re thinking all investors are big ones.

 

But when you really break down the numbers, here’s what they actually show.

 

Big institutional investors the large companies buying homes actually make up a very small slice of the overall housing market.

 

According to BatchData, the biggest investors those owning 1,000+ homes only make up about 0.4% of the 86 million single-family homes out there. And their share is actually getting smaller.

 

Data from Parcl Labs shows that right now, big investors are actually selling about four homes for every one they buy (see the visual below):

 

 

That means they’ve actually put nearly 1.7K homes back on the market recently.

 

Here’s the bottom line: instead of buying up everything, most of these companies are actually stepping back. That means there’s less competition from them than you might expect. So if it’s felt like they’re taking over the market, you can breathe a little easier.

 

Most of the competition you’ll run into is from other everyday buyers people just like you. And with big investors pulling back, there may actually be more opportunity out there than you think.

 

It’s easy to think big investors are taking over the housing market, but the data paints a different picture. If you want a local take on what investor activity really looks like around here, let’s chat.

 

Because chances are, it’s not as big of a factor as you might think.