Large investors that hold portfolios of hundreds — or thousands — of single-family homes and rent them out have found themselves in the political crosshairs this year. A new bill that just passed the Senate seeks to limit their ability to buy more.
The idea is broadly popular, and President Trump signed an executive order earlier this year with similar aims. But the crackdown on institutional investors has fierce critics within the housing industry, who say a ban could ultimately end up hurting housing affordability by reducing rental supply. The investor ban is likely to be a key sticking point in negotiations that will determine the bill’s fate.
But the reality is that the biggest corporate investors play a small role in the overall market. Nationwide, large investors by the Senate’s definition — those that own at least 350 homes — were responsible for about 1% of single-family home purchases between 2015 and 2025, according to Realtor.com.
Institutional investors do have a bigger foothold in some cities than others, especially those in the Southeast. Still, in the past decade, their purchases haven’t exceeded 4.5% of total homes for sale anywhere.
Large investors have been the most active in the area around Memphis, Tenn., responsible for 4.4% of all home purchases there between 2015 and 2025. That’s closely followed by Colorado Springs, Colo., at 4.3% of all sales, and 4.2% of transactions in Charlotte, N.C.
The rest of the top 10 list is dominated by Southeastern cities, where housing supply tends to be higher, prices are lower, and populations are growing. This includes Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., Dallas, and Raleigh, N.C. One exception to the Sun Belt dominance is Indianapolis, where the largest investors bought 3.5% of all homes in the past decade.
“Those places were often hit quite hard by the housing bust,” Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel told Yahoo Finance. “Prices were at lows, inventory was relatively high, and that was where these investors started to step in and build economies of scale that way.”
In parts of the country where single-family home supply is more limited and prices are higher, like Boston and San Francisco, institutions have done next to no buying.
And in recent years, as home prices and interest rates have risen, large corporate investors have been pulling back on purchases. Their buying activity was down 65% last year compared to their 2021 peak. “Mom and pop” and midsize landlords have also slowed their purchases, but less dramatically.