Why it's good to read the small print

You might see headlines this week like these:

• Real estate investors are purchasing more U.S. homes as high prices lock out would-be buyers
• Investors snap up growing share of US homes as traditional buyers struggle to afford one

Those headlines tend to feed into the understandable frustration over big, institutional investors and corporations buying up homes left and right.

But if you read the full article, that's not actually what's happening. The vast majority of investors are "mom and pop" types who own 1-5 investment homes.

From the second article:

"Institutional investors that own 1,000 or more homes account for only about 2.2% of all investor-owned homes, the firm said.

And that number could get smaller, amid signs that large institutional investors are scaling back home purchases.

Out of a group of eight of the biggest companies that own and lease single-family houses, including Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent, six sold more homes in the second quarter than they bought, according to data from Parcl Labs."

Good to know in case the topic of institutional investing comes up in your day-to-day conversations. 😅