One seller got two offers on a house within 90 minutes of it being listed — but from investors, not anyone wanting to live in it.
Meanwhile, a would-be buyer wanting a house for a home has made offers on 16 of them, for full asking price or above, and, outbid and outmaneuvered by professional buyers, hasn't been able to get one.
A starter home went on the market and before long garnered a dozen purchase offers, half of them from investors — both corporate and mom-and-pop.
Oklahoma City-area real estate agents have these stories and more. They say it's a wild world in home sales, especially since investors, both local and out-of-state, started turning to single-family homes.
They did so for the same reason companies sink money into commercial property: to make money, whether by renting or flipping.
Competition is stiff for people looking for a home for a personal or family dwelling, and even with mortgage interest rates on the rise, the investment market in Oklahoma isn't likely to cool anytime soon.
Why? Because even with home prices rising by double digits, houses in Oklahoma are still less expensive than most other places, and out-of-state money still has untapped buying power.
Plus, cash is king, and it's pouring into neighborhoods everywhere with no regard for mortgage rates, snatching houses away from everyday people. Sellers like cash, and they like not having to fix up their houses, selling as-is, as investors tend to take them.
Realtors say Sooner State ranks third in sales to institutional investors
Last year, Oklahoma was tied for third across the U.S. in the share of institutional home buyers — corporations, companies or limited liability companies — at 18%, according to a new study by the National Association of Realtors.
Nationally, institutional investors accounted for 13.2% of residential purchases in 2021, higher than the 11.8% in 2020, but below the peak share of 15.7% in 2014, the Realtors reported.
The share of homes going to investors is higher in Oklahoma County, more than 20%, said Oklahoma City real estate agent Jessica Thompson, an agent with West and Main Homes Oklahoma.
"In Oklahoma County, I have seen offers from short-term rental investors paying over market value for properties because of the income potential, pricing out would-be owner-occupant, local buyers, while also driving up the comparable property values," she said.
Most institutional purchases don't become rentals. Nationally, on average, 42% of single-family homes bought by institutional buyers last year were converted to rentals, the Realtors' study showed.
The rest were resold or otherwise returned to owner-occupiers through rent-to-own or other types of ownership, the Realtors said.
Keep reading on The Oklahoman.
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