Investor home purchases nationwide slipped 1.7 percent in the six months ending in March 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier. But investors kept retreating from Sun Belt markets like Orlando and Jacksonville — and pulled back hardest in Detroit — even as they stepped up their buying in pricey coastal markets like San Francisco and Seattle and affordable Midwest metros like Milwaukee.
| Metro area | Investor purchases, Oct. 2024–March 2025 |
Investor purchases, Oct. 2025–March 2026 |
Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 1,038 | 1,269 | +22.3% |
| Seattle, WA | 1,344 | 1,591 | +18.4% |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 1,312 | 1,513 | +15.3% |
| Milwaukee, WI | 1,165 | 1,334 | +14.5% |
| Portland, OR | 1,219 | 1,394 | +14.4% |
| Oakland, CA | 1,600 | 1,823 | +13.9% |
| San Jose, CA | 1,008 | 1,124 | +11.5% |
| San Diego, CA | 2,580 | 2,813 | +9.0% |
| Cincinnati, OH | 1,617 | 1,738 | +7.5% |
| West Palm Beach, FL | 2,290 | 2,437 | +6.4% |
| New York, NY | 4,854 | 5,155 | +6.2% |
| Los Angeles, CA | 5,463 | 5,769 | +5.6% |
| Newark, NJ | 1,377 | 1,447 | +5.1% |
| Miami, FL | 3,693 | 3,862 | +4.6% |
| Anaheim, CA | 2,433 | 2,544 | +4.6% |
| Providence, RI | 414 | 424 | +2.4% |
| Minneapolis, MN | 1,999 | 2,029 | +1.5% |
| New Brunswick, NJ | 1,903 | 1,930 | +1.4% |
| Atlanta, GA | 6,165 | 6,202 | +0.6% |
| Denver, CO | 2,193 | 2,201 | +0.4% |
| Phoenix, AZ | 6,079 | 5,985 | -1.5% |
| Chicago, IL | 3,932 | 3,864 | -1.7% |
| Riverside, CA | 3,477 | 3,402 | -2.2% |
| Philadelphia, PA | 1,884 | 1,836 | -2.5% |
| Warren, MI | 1,435 | 1,392 | -3.0% |
| Columbus, OH | 1,645 | 1,571 | -4.5% |
| Sacramento, CA | 2,104 | 1,989 | -5.5% |
| Cleveland, OH | 2,530 | 2,338 | -7.6% |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | 2,487 | 2,275 | -8.5% |
| Baltimore, MD | 2,990 | 2,719 | -9.1% |
| Montgomery County, PA | 991 | 897 | -9.5% |
| Washington, DC | 2,712 | 2,432 | -10.3% |
| Tampa, FL | 4,383 | 3,884 | -11.4% |
| Las Vegas, NV | 3,232 | 2,863 | -11.4% |
| Nashville, TN | 1,978 | 1,724 | -12.8% |
| Charlotte, NC | 2,882 | 2,509 | -12.9% |
| Jacksonville, FL | 1,978 | 1,716 | -13.2% |
| Orlando, FL | 3,668 | 2,908 | -20.7% |
| Detroit, MI | 2,011 | 1,526 | -24.1% |
Source: Redfin | Visualized by Inman