Homebuyers face less housing market competition from investors right now

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During the pandemic housing boom, real estate investors rushed in. With home prices and rents soaring—and mortgage rates hovering at historic lows—investor purchases surged. But since mortgage rates spiked in 2022, the investor landscape has shifted dramatically. The easy-money days are gone, and investors are now navigating a much tougher market defined by tighter margins, slower rent growth, and fewer cash-flow opportunities. 

To better understand how investors are adapting to the housing market, ResiClub recently teamed up with Stessa, an asset management and accounting software for real estate investors, owned by Roofstock.

Investors who own at least one single-family investment property were eligible to respond to the Stessa-ResiClub Real Estate Investor Survey, fielded between May 20 and June 6, 2025. In total, 239 single-family investors/landlords completed the survey.

Here are some of the findings:

• 45% of U.S. real estate investors say they plan to grow their portfolios in the near term.
• Nearly two-thirds of real estate investors (65%) say the most frustrating part of the buying process is finding deals that generate positive cash flow; that share is even higher among landlords based in the West (78%).
• Half of surveyed real estate investors (50%) said they’d accept a mortgage rate up to 7% on their next purchase.
• 58% of real estate investors say they self-manage their properties.
• 20% say they first look at off-market deal sources.
• When it comes to the search, real estate investors say Zillow is the most helpful platform, with more than 70% considering it “very helpful” or “somewhat helpful.”

Big picture: Taking into account home prices, decelerated rent growth, and interest rates, many single-family real estate investors are hard-pressed to find new rental properties that generate enough cash flow in today’s market. It takes more work now to find the needed returns.