Investors across the country are looking to cash in on skyrocketing house prices and rents, putting them in competition with new buyers trying to work their way to homeownership. Real estate investors bought a record 18% of the homes sold in the third quarter, according to a new Redfin report.

Nationally, investors bought a record 18% of homes sold in the third quarter of this year, and they are increasingly turning to single-family homes, according to Redfin. 

“If I had to choose only one word to describe September 2021’s housing price data, the word would be ‘deceleration. Housing prices continued to show remarkable strength in September, though the pace of price increases declined slightly.” — S&P DJI managing director Craig Lazzara.

“Motivated by fast-rising rents and the anticipated increase in mortgage rates, consumers that are on strong financial footing are signing contracts to purchase a home sooner rather than later.” — NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun

The demand for housing in the U.S. has reached a new all-time high since 2017, a rare occurrence for this time of year when the market typically slows. According to a Redfin report, a recovering economy and all-time low mortgage rates are critical factors in the current market. 

As the economy recovers from COVID and the housing market gains traction, homeownership is top of mind for Americans, according to the latest survey from Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of September was 389,000, representing a supply of 6.3 months at the current sales rate, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.

As dramatic rent prices impact states across the nation, renters are searching for more affordable places to call home. Nationally, the median rent price is up over 16% since January, with some cities seeing double that, according to a recent Apartment List report.

Demand for second homes was up 70% from pre-pandemic levels in October, according to a new report from Redfin. This outpaced August’s 48% gain but was below January’s record 91% growth.

The U.S. housing market kept firing on all cylinders, as the demand for residential real estate drove prices higher for the 116th month in a row, marking the longest streak on record.

November’s reading of 83 was up three points from October, driven by low existing inventories and strong buyer demand, the National Association of Home Builders reported, citing the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

Housing observers noted that demand for housing remains robust despite the lack of new supply.

According to real estate data provider ATTOM, foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions, rose 5% in October on a monthly basis and 76% from October 2020, to 20,587 filings.

Seventy-eight percent of the 183 U.S. markets monitored by the National Association of Realtors had double-digit increases in their median home prices, a decline from the second quarter, when 94% of markets saw double-digit increases.

The supply of affordable homes on the market rose a record 13% in the third quarter as mortgage forbearance programs ended, prompting low-cost homeowners to put their properties on the market.

“Mortgage rates decreased for the first time since August, as concerns about supply-chain bottlenecks, waning consumer confidence, weaker economic growth and rising inflation pushed Treasury yields lower.” — MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting Joel Kan