Having a hard time buying a home? You aren’t alone in this crazy housing market where over-bid offers, homes being purchased sight unseen, and cash offers are crushing the chance of the average homebuyer from getting a sniff at the home they want.

But you know who isn’t struggling to buy a home?

Investors.

According to data from Redfin, investors purchased nearly 68,000 housing units in the second quarter alone – this included single-family homes, multi-family properties, townhouses and condominiums.

This was the largest number of investment purchases in one quarter since Redfin started collecting their data in the year 2000.

All told, those units cost $48.5 billion, which is also a record total, according to the report.

This also isn’t something that was brought about solely by the pandemic and record-low mortgage interest rates. Investors have already been more active in the residential real estate market prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. In the first quarter of 2020, about 16% of all residential sales were made to investors.

Soaring home prices have become an opportunity for investors – who are defined as a company or institution purchasing a home, instead of an individual – as the value of homes continues to increase, investors are practically guaranteed a strong return on their investment.

According to the report, investors are focusing on single-family homes more than they ever have before, buying them and turning them into rental properties. In the second quarter, 16% of single-family home sales went to investors, also an all-time high.

With so many Americans priced out of the homeownership market, investors are taking advantage, buying these homes, converting them to rentals, and turning a profit as housing providers.

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