By Julie Schmit
USA TODAY
If you’d like to discuss real estate matters, contact Rose Law Group Founder Jordan Rose, jrose@roselawgroup.com
Major real estate investors are buying fewer homes in some hot markets while expanding in others as they race against rising prices to turn more distressed homes into rentals.
Phoenix, which has led the nation with rapid home-price gains, is among the first markets to see investors’ interest cool.
The percentage of Phoenix homes bought by investors fell to 28% in November after cresting at almost 36% in August and is now on a “clear downward” trend says Mike Orr, real estate expert at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
Investor interest also may be close to “peaking” in some California markets where prices have risen rapidly because higher acquisition prices cut financial returns, says John Burns, CEO of Burns Real Estate Consulting.
Meanwhile, major investors are stepping up purchases elsewhere, especially in Southeastern cities such as Atlanta and Tampa. Home shoppers there are now seeing the multiple offers, bidding wars and shrinking supplies of homes for sale that occurred in Phoenix as investors swooped in.
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