What Percentage Of Homes Are
Owned By Corporations? (2025)

March 10, 2025

signature properties fact checked Fact Checked

Without a doubt, available inventory of single family homes in the United States is just not cutting it. There is a housing shortage in America that continues to impact the real estate market systemically.

Whether you are selling a house or looking to buy something for your family, this housing shortage is going to impact you.

The biggest factor driving all the problem is inventory- the number of available homes. Inventory affects pricing, transactions, rentals, construction, building materials and so on. It’s pervasive.

And for years now, the narrative has been that greedy banks and large institutions have been hoarding single-family properties since the beginning of the pandemic.

Is it true? How much do they really own? And are they still buying more in 2025?

This article will answer that, and much more, to help you understand the facts and statistics around corporations buying up homes in America.

Housing Inventory & Ownership Stats For 2025

Corporations own about 10% of single-family homes in America in 2025.
In 2014, institutions owned as much as 11.5% of single-family homes.
1 out of 4 real estate transactions in 2024 involve an investor, small or large.
6 states have already filed bills to limit investor purchasing activity in 2025.

How Do Corporations Own 10% Of Homes In America?

Investors, iBuyers, institutions, corporations, hedge funds…call them whatever you want.

Any entity purchasing properties with the intent of making a return or profit is what we are tracking. And in America, they’re scooping up 10% of the inventory.

percentage of homes owned by institutions in 2025

It is estimated that investors who own these homes are essentially sitting on ~14M – 15M units of housing inventory as rentals, thereby choking out supply for first-time home buyers, starter families and, in some cases, retirees.

Is your rental property in disrepair? You can easily sell it for cash to a professional home buyer.

Why Has Investor Ownership Dropped Since 2014?

If you’ve been listening to the news or reading about the housing crisis in America, then you know there are some opinions and ideas around corporations buying homes in America. But, what’s the data telling us?

The fact is, since 2014, the percentage of total housing units in America that are owned by institutions as rentals has dropped off significantly. We’re talking a dip from almost 12% in 2014 to just under 10% in 2025.

This does not support the recent narrative around iBuyers and hedge funds driving up home prices by sitting on the inventory and accumulating more since the pandemic. In fact, even since the pandemic, the numbers have dropped.

number of homes owned by corporations in 2025

Despite iBuyers coming into the picture in 2014, this new market entrant actually decreased the amount of total volume being held by landlords and corporations.

Some may theorize that small mom and pop shops decided to sell for a profit – why wouldn’t you if the iBuyer ensures a quick and seamless closing?

Others stipulate the quicker than anticipated home appreciation between 2014 and 2020 yielded faster turns on inventory (home flipping) especially as HGTV took the spotlight with shows like Fixer Upper, Property Brothers and more.

Investors Are Participating In More Transactions

Well if it’s not so that institutional and investor buyers are sitting on the ready and available homes, then what is all this talk about an uptick in investor activity since the pandemic?

The big misconception, from what the data is showing is, is that while they are showing up to more closing tables than in prior years, their plans are to flip and not buy and hold.

25% of real estate settlements on single-family properties in America included an investor of some sort in 2024. This is a big deal and a sizeable increase from history.

Here is the breakdown of different investor types and how many of the total transactions they represented:

Investor Size	Percentage of Transactions in 2024 (%)
1-9 Properties	18%
10-99 Properties	6%
100 – 999 Properties	< 1%
1,000+ Properties	< 1%
iBuyers	1%

Our Interpretation: Home buyers in the “1-9 Properties” cohort also includes buyers who opt to purchase a second home. This could be a vacation home or similar. We think that could skew the analysis a bit, but still technically counts as an “investor”.

Will America Curb The Purchasing Of Homes By Institutions?

As of early 2025, there are already 6 states who have filed bills to limit the number of homes an investor can buy.

And what has become clear, is that the perception of an investor problem in America is a regional one. Of the states that filed, many are part of the Sun Belt region and facing an influx of investor led home purchasing activity.

While this is true, there are other states who want to cap the number of homes an entity can own to 25. By doing this, the expectation is that it will soften the housing affordability (for new owners and renters) and create homeownership opportunities going forward.

The numbers speak for themselves and what’s crystal clear is that the politics are also playing a critical role in this issue. Despite the fact that corporations only own 10% of housing across the board in America, there are strong Democratic opinions to curb that while Republicans push to preserve the right to property ownership in America.

Our Take On The Data

There are two main findings from this research that stuck out to us as interesting and informative:

Investors and cash home buyers are not hoarding the inventory and contributing to the housing shortage in America. In fact, the data shows that they are participating in an increased percentage of transactions. To us, this means they are flipping over homes more and more and artificially improving the shortage crisis. To us, this is a positive sign that investors are actually helping the economic challenge.
Owning, renting and building property is a fundamental, free-market right in America. Despite the negative commentary on investors, corporations and institutions buying up all the property, they are the backbone of the housing economy during difficult times. How so? They go out and revitalize existing homes while new construction and inventory may stall or delay.

Sources: JBREC, Governing