36% of California homebuyers were investors in 2025’s first half

Investor influence on home sales continued to grow as 2025 started.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed stats from Cotality – the new name for the CoreLogic data crunchers – tracking 26 California metropolitan areas and single-family home sales that either went to primary residents or investors. These investments include homes bought as rentals and as second homes.

In 2025’s first half, 36% of purchases statewide were made by investors – up from 31% for all of 2024 and 16% at the recent low in 2020 as coronavirus was scrambling the economy.

Or look at the change this way: Investors were tied to an average of 33% of all California homebuying in the past 18 months vs. 21% in 2015-23.

Where in California are investors the most active homebuyers?

The sharp jump in investor activity is likely