The American housing market took off during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and home values have been climbing rapidly since. Home sale data compiled by real estate data company Zillow shows that the typical value of a mid-priced home soared by over 20% in the last year, from $284,000 in April 2021 to over $344,000 in April 2022.
Much of the surge in home sales, however, was not driven by families or first-time homebuyers, but rather by investors.
According to realty company Redfin, investors accounted for 18.4% of all U.S. home sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 – or more than one in every six home sales. Real estate investors can be large corporations, like Blackstone, or local companies and wealthy individuals. No matter who the investor is, their goal is the same – to profit from the real estate market, either through flipping homes or converting them into rentals.
Some major metropolitan areas are drawing even more investors than the national average. In the Detroit metro area, investors accounted for an estimated 19.4% of home sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 – equal to nearly one in every five home sales. The value of all homes in the metro area bought by investors in the final three months of 2021 totals $119,057,668.
Despite the impact investors are having on demand, home values remain low in Detroit. As of April 2022, the median home price in the metro area was $81,700.
| Rank | Metro area | Investor market share, Q4 2021 (%) | Median home price, Apr. 2022 ($) | Total value of investment home sales, Q4 2021 ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta, GA | 32.7 | $430,000 | 2,857.3 |
| 2 | Charlotte, NC | 32.1 | $400,000 | 1,255.1 |
| 3 | Jacksonville, FL | 29.8 | $300,000 | 712.2 |
| 4 | Las Vegas, NV | 29.2 | $435,000 | 1,738.0 |
| 5 | Phoenix, AZ | 28.4 | $460,000 | 3,795.0 |
| 6 | Miami, FL | 27.5 | $525,000 | 2,158.0 |
| 7 | Orlando, FL | 25.9 | $363,000 | 1,138.4 |
| 8 | Tampa, FL | 24.2 | $390,000 | 1,598.5 |
| 9 | Nashville, TN | 21.4 | $465,000 | 800.3 |
| 10 | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 21.0 | $465,000 | 1,143.8 |
| 11 | San Diego, CA | 20.3 | $925,000 | 2,352.5 |
| 12 | Anaheim, CA | 19.8 | $875,000 | 2,683.4 |
| 13 | Detroit, MI | 19.4 | $81,700 | 119.1 |
| 14 | Sacramento, CA | 19.1 | $518,000 | 1,181.0 |
| 15 | Los Angeles, CA | 18.8 | $1,025,000 | 6,747.4 |
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