Alabama leads nation in investor home sales
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Almost 11% of houses sold in Alabama in the first quarter of 2025 were bought by institutional investors, up from 9.7% a year earlier, according to ATTOM, a real estate data firm.
Why it matters: Investors, who often compete with first-time buyers, have pulled back from the U.S. housing market in recent years.
- Institutional investors are defined by ATTOM as non-lending entities that purchased at least 10 properties in a year.
Between the lines: Investors want to see strong population and job growth, solid rental yields, landlord-friendly regulations, affordability and long-term appreciation potential, ATTOM CEO Rob Barber previously told Axios.
- The Birmingham metro area topped the nation in institutional investor sales, which accounted for 16.6% of the area's first-quarter 2025 home sales, per ATTOM. Huntsville's share was 9.7%.
What they're saying: Tamara Fox, president of the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors, tells Axios Huntsville that real estate investors, either individuals or institutions, have every right to participate in the market.
- "However, we see an increasing pattern where many of these purchases are concentrated in the very segments that are most accessible to first-time homebuyers," she said. "This can create additional barriers for families trying to achieve homeownership and contributes to upward pressure on prices."
Zoom in: Data from Realtor.com shows that the median price of a home purchased by investors in Alabama was $151,180 in 2024. The median sale price was $220,000.
- In some cases, Fox adds, out-of-town investors aren't maintaining their properties, which can lead to visible decline and have a negative ripple effect on surrounding home values.
The big picture: Institutional investor sales in Q1 fell to the lowest since 2020 nationwide — mirroring a broader housing slowdown — even as their share of total sales ticked up to 6.3% from 6.1% in the previous quarter, per ATTOM.
- Alabama's share was highest at 10.9%, while Maine's was lowest at 2.7%, among states with enough data.
What we're watching: In states like California, Minnesota and Oregon, investors are now offloading more homes than they're snatching up, Realtor.com reports.