--- title: "Why investors keep buying homes while rents fall for 38 straight months" description: "Rents are down, mortgage rates sit in the mid-7% range and carrying costs are up, so the investors still buying have changed how they shop." url: https://real-estate.skoop.news/is-buying-an-investment-property-still-worth-it-the-investor-68e961/ published: 2026-10-28T07:51:55.073299-04:00 modified: 2026-10-28T07:51:55.073299-04:00 section: "Real Estate & Mortgages" publisher: "skoop.news" language: en keywords: ["Insurance Information Institute", "Realtor.com Investor Report", "Harvard University", "Housing Studies", "Joint Center", "LendingTree", "housing", "mortgage", "real estate", "realtor"] hashtags: ["#InsuranceInformationInstitute", "#RealtorComInvestorReport", "#HarvardUniversity", "#Housing", "#realestate"] image: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Market_Place%2C_Hampstead_Garden_Suburb_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7281941.jpg/1280px-Market_Place%2C_Hampstead_Garden_Suburb_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7281941.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail --- # Why investors keep buying homes while rents fall for 38 straight months > Rents are down, mortgage rates sit in the mid-7% range and carrying costs are up, so the investors still buying have changed how they shop. Published 2026-10-28 · Real Estate & Mortgages, [skoop.news](https://skoop.news/) ## In brief - Rents have fallen year over year for 38 straight months, which squeezes anyone who owns a rental property or plans to buy one. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) - In the first half of 2026, overall home sales were 19.4% and non-investor purchases were 21.6% below their 2017 to 2019 average. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) - The typical non-investor paid $380,000 for a home in the first half of 2026. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) ## Rents fall as costs rise Rents have fallen year over year for 38 straight months, which squeezes anyone who owns a rental property or plans to buy one. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Mortgage rates are hovering in the mid-7% range at the same time. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Investors purchased 7% fewer homes than a year earlier, according to the latest Realtor.com Investor Report. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) The median list price was down 1.4% compared to a year earlier, according to Realtor.com. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) ## Investors still buy more than in 2017 to 2019 In the first half of 2026, overall home sales were 19.4% and non-investor purchases were 21.6% below their 2017 to 2019 average. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Investor purchases were 4.2% above that average. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Large and mega-investors became net sellers in the first half of 2026. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Small investors accounted for 66.2% of investor purchases in that period, the highest share in at least 15 years. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) ## Cheaper homes and more cash The typical non-investor paid $380,000 for a home in the first half of 2026. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Small investors paid a median of $295,000, which is 22.4% less than the typical non-investor. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) The 10 most investor-heavy large metros had a median investor purchase price of roughly $174,000 in the first half of 2026, compared with $295,000 nationally. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) About 55.5% of investor purchases were made in cash in that period, compared with 30% across the overall market. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Mega-investors paid cash 80.4% of the time, compared with 56.1% for small investors. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) ## The costs of holding a rental Property taxes rose 31% between 2019 and 2025, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Average monthly homeowners insurance premiums jumped 72%, according to the same source. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) A landlord or rental-dwelling insurance policy generally costs about 25% more than a standard homeowners policy, according to the Insurance Information Institute. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Investment-property mortgage rates are typically 0.5 to 1 percentage point higher than rates for primary residences, according to LendingTree. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) ## What this means if you are considering a rental Kastanis said investors have to be much more disciplined today. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Kastanis said the market does not make real estate a bad investment, but investors have to be more selective. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Kastanis said one of the biggest advantages an investor has right now is the ability to negotiate. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) Kastanis warned that the mistake is stretching finances on the assumption that rents will keep rising or that a lower refinance rate will come soon. [[1]](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) ## Sources 1. [Is Buying an Investment Property Still Worth It? The Investors Still Buying Have Changed Their Playbook](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/is-buying-investment-property-worth-it-investor-report-2026/) — Realtor.com Image: Photo (illustrative): David Howard / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Market_Place,_Hampstead_Garden_Suburb_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7281941.jpg) --- Written from the sources above and checked twice (rules and an independent model) before publishing. How we work: https://skoop.news/how-we-work/ · Corrections: https://skoop.news/corrections/