16% of single-family homes in a single California county are owned by buyers

Buyers personal 87,928 of Orange County’s single-family homes, or 16% of the market.

That’s a spotlight of my trusty spreadsheet’s assessment of first-quarter investor stats from BatchData, which studied possession of 566,948 homes countywide. Statewide, buyers personal 19% of all homes. Nationally, the share is 20%.

BatchData, a small knowledge tracker that digs deep into property information, reviewed homeownership with a purpose to determine owner-occupied residences in contrast with these owned by buyers.

The examine consists of properties used for short-term or long-term leases, second properties and trip retreats. It doesn’t observe condos, build-to-rent single-family residence initiatives, or multi-unit properties.

BatchData discovered Orange County buyers purchased 1,246 homes within the first quarter whereas promoting 627.

RELATED: The place in California do buyers personal essentially the most homes?

So, Orange County, buyers elevated their stakes by 619 homes in 2025’s first quarter. That’s 2% fewer web additions vs. 2024’s first quarter.

Examine that to the gross sales tempo of all single-family homes in Orange County – up 4% in the identical 12-month interval, based on knowledge from Attom.

Critics argue that buyers scale back the probabilities of success for first-time homebuyers. Supporters argue buyers convey money into the market and ceaselessly purchase properties that the everyday home hunter doesn’t need.

For all of final 12 months, buyers added 2,415 homes – shopping for 4,967 whereas promoting 2,552.

In comparison with the tempo between 2020 and 2023, that’s 68% extra web additions. Gross sales of all single-family homes shrank 24% in the identical interval, Attom knowledge reveals.

It provides as much as a 3.5% enhance within the investor stake in Orange County homes within the 15 months resulted in March.

By the best way, BatchData discovered that the majority California buyers are “mom and pop” varieties, as 91% of funding homes are owned by of us with 5 or fewer properties.

Initially Printed: August 6, 2025 at 5:32 AM PDT