California house investors target most-affordable counties

"You're more likely to find California houses owned by investors in the state's more affordable communities. That's what my trusty spreadsheet found after reviewing a BatchData report from the third quarter of 2025 that calculates investor ownership of houses and townhomes nationwide. Investors in this study include everything from giant companies controlling thousands of houses to folks with a small collection of rentals to short-term rental operators to people with a second home. Condo ownership was not included."

"The counties were then split into three groups, each equally weighted by the number of houses. First, note the huge cost differences. The average investor's purchase price in the cheapest counties was $455,000 roughly one-third the $1.38 million spent in the costliest counties. Next, examine California investment preferences in the state's lower-cost locales compared to its costliest areas. Investors owned 498,888 houses in the least-expensive counties as of 2025's third quarter vs. 383,277 owned in the most-expensive counties. That's 30% more. This translates to California investors controlling 21% of all houses in the cheaper counties, compared with 13% in the priciest places. The thriftiness continues inside acquisition strategies. Investors bought 185,779 houses in 2020-25 in California's low-cost counties vs. 133,023 purchases in the most-expensive counties. That's 40% more. Still, note that these price-linked differences look a tad different when considering the dollars involved. Investor purchases in 2020-25 totaled $84 billion in the least-expensive locations. Yet in the priciest counties, investors paid $183 billion for their acquisitions more than double, in the same period."

BatchData's third-quarter 2025 figures measure investor ownership of houses and townhomes across California, excluding condos, and include institutional and individual investors. Counties were ranked by investor purchase prices from 2020–25 and split into three equal groups by house count. Average investor purchase price was $455,000 in the cheapest group versus $1.38 million in the costliest. Investors owned 498,888 houses in the least-expensive counties versus 383,277 in the most-expensive, translating to 21% versus 13% of houses respectively. Purchases from 2020–25 totaled 185,779 in low-cost counties and 133,023 in high-cost counties, with $84 billion spent in low-cost areas and $183 billion in high-cost areas.

Read at www.ocregister.com