Housing Watch: What new study shows about investor ownership

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — A new report from BatchData shows that about 18% of homes in the US are owned by investors.

Rick Sharga of the CJ Patrick Company says he wasn’t surprised to see the number a little lower in California, at 17%.

“I’ve never really believed the Internet meme about Wall Street gobbling up Main Street, and that was part of my motivation for working with BatchData to create this report,” he said.

The report shows investors own 18% of all single-family homes in Fresno County and 23% of Tulare County homes are investor-owned, with Merced County a bit higher at 25%.

“Over 90% of all single-family homes owned by investors are owned by mom-and-pop investorsm,” Sharga said. “These are people that own one to five properties, maybe 6 to 10 if they’re if they’re bigger there.”

As we move to the foothill and mountain region of Mariposa County, 42% of homes there are owned by investors.

“Where we have a sparsely populated county that relies very heavily on tourism, we see a lot of the properties in those markets. Sometimes, a majority of the properties in those markets are vacation homes,” Sharga said.

Sharga says real estate investors might use this data to gauge opportunity, while buyers can get a sense of what they’re up against in a particular market.

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