Meet America’s disguised property investors

Who really bought the house next door? In America purchasers of residential property typically fall into two categories. First are the , buying a home and hearth where they can live out their white-picket-fence American dreams. The rest are investors of various kinds. They may be flippers, looking to spruce up an old home and sell it on. They could be buy-to-let landlords acquiring a property to rent it out. Or they could be pure speculators, more interested in betting on prices than collecting rent.Owner-occupiers have traditionally dominated the market. For most of the decade to 2020 only a sixth of house purchases were , according to Redfin, a property platform. But their presence is growing. By 2022 the investor share was closer to a fifth.