Investor hesitation grows as housing market uncertainty lingers

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Back in the housing frenzy of 2021, homeowners were bombarded with inquiries from eager investors looking to see if they were open to selling. The outreach came in all forms—text messages, postcards, phone calls—and often felt relentless.

Redfin data shows that in Q4 2021, investors scooped up 94,715 U.S. homes, a 51% jump from the 62,581 homes they purchased in Q4 2019.

But that investor-driven surge—powered by rock-bottom interest rates, pandemic stimulus, and the remote work boom—began to fade as the Federal Reserve pivoted to fighting inflation. Mortgage rates climbed from 3% to over 6% in 2022, putting pressure on capital markets. The higher borrowing costs squeezed a wide range of housing players—from small landlords and short-term rental operators to house flippers and big institutional buyers—making it tougher to make the numbers work for new rental acquisitions.

In Q4 2024, investors purchased 47,004 homes—that’s 50% below the level of investor purchases made in Q4 2021 (94,715) during the pandemic housing boom and 25% below pre-pandemic Q4 2019 (62,581).

To better understand what rental property owners plan to do in the housing market over the next year, ResiClub partnered on a survey with Flock Homes, a startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz that provides services to help landlords transition their properties into a professionally managed pool while preserving tax advantages.  

The Flock Homes–ResiClub Real Estate Investor Survey was conducted between March 31 and April 7, 2025. It surveyed 245 real estate investors who own rental properties.

Here are some of the big takeaways. (Note: Due to rounding, some totals will exceed 100%.) 

Housing market conditions

The majority of housing investors aren’t focused on expanding right now. Of the U.S. real estate investors surveyed, 65% say they are focused on maintaining their portfolio size (56%) or exiting/selling it off (9%). Only 36% say they are focused on growing their portfolio.

Among investors surveyed, 45% say that “purchase price relative to the market” has had the greatest impact on long-term performance when acquiring properties.

Even so, 41% of U.S. real estate investors say their real estate investment returns are “far better” than what they believe they would have earned in the stock market, while 6% say their returns are “far worse.”

Rising costs

More than 20% of U.S. real estate investors surveyed say their home insurance costs have risen by more than 50% over the past five years.

Maintenance costs are also a concern: 32% of U.S. real estate investors say “unexpected maintenance costs” are “the most underestimated risk in rental property investing,” followed by 26% who cite “tenant-related issues.”

You can find the full results below:

Methodology: Among the 245 real estate investors who participated in the ResiClub Real Estate Investor Survey, here’s how many rental/investment properties they own:

1-4 units: 55.9%

5-19 units: 26.9%

20-99 units: 11.8%

100+ units: 5.3%

Here’s how we grouped the regions by state in the survey:

Midwest: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, and WI

Northeast: CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VT

Southeast: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, and WV

Southwest: AZ, NM, OK, and TX

West: AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, and WY

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