The percentage of homes purchased by real estate investors fell 49 percent  compared with what they bought a year before, and overall home purchases fell 41 percent, according to real estate brokerage Redfin, which analyzed date from 40 major metros.
Something that may have led investors to retreat from the housing market likely are rising interest rates. Even though investors buy with cash, they use non-mortgage loans for renovations and other expenses.
Another cause is that investor home purchases in 2022 were near a record high, so a degree of decrease was expected for 2023.
This was the largest annual decline on record. Comparing quarters, investor purchases fell almost 16 percent, and overall home purchases fell almost 15 percent….