This is Their Worst Market in at Least 3 Years, Housing Investors Say
Concern is growing among investors in the single-family housing market about interest rates, rising insurance and home costs, and the ongoing war with Iran, according to data in a new survey.
That means the investors are less confident in their business than they have been in at least three years, according to a report by CNBC.
Investor sentiment at the end of June dropped for the second straight quarter to an all-time low on the quarterly RCN Capital/CJ Patrick Company Investor Sentiment Index, or ISI. The index surveys more than 300 investors in the fix-and-flip and rental businesses, CNBC noted.
According to the index, 26% of respondents said they believe market conditions are better than they were a year ago, the lowest share since the survey began in 2023 and down from 35% in the first quarter.
Fully, 45% said the market has gotten worse, the highest in the survey’s history, CNBC said.
Multiple Contributing Factors
“In addition to the ongoing conflict in Iran, rising finance costs, limited inventory, escalating home and renovation costs and downward pressure on rental rates are all contributing factors for their increased pessimism,” Jeffrey Tesch, CEO of RCN Capital, a private lender to real estate investors, said in a release.
Most investors surveyed in the report were small to mid-sized.
That is in contrast to large institutional investors covered by the recently enacted 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which will prohibit investors with at least 350 single-family homes from acquiring additional single-family homes, CNBC said.
According to CNBC, small- to mid-sized investors a prone to using bridge loans, special investor loans for rental properties and conventional loans that are typically 30-year and fixed rate.
Of those surveyed, however, 28% reported paying cash in their recent purchases.
CNBC noted that mortgage rates hit a recent low at the end of February but rose sharply at the start of the war with Iran. Now the rates are at their highest level in over a year.
High Cost of Financing
More than half of survey respondents said the high cost of financing is “one of the biggest problems in today’s market.” Three-quarters of the respondents said they do not expect to see any rate relief anytime soon, and some respondents said they expect rates to rise.
CNBC noted that it’s impacting investor purchase activity.
“Real estate investors purchased 23% fewer homes in the first quarter of 2026 than they did in the previous quarter and in the first quarter of 2025. The survey also shows that 32% of the respondents don’t plan to buy any properties at all this year, and only 9% plan to buy more than they did a year ago,” said Rick Sharga, CEO of the CJ Patrick Company.
CNBC noted that more than 60% of respondents expect home prices to rise over the next six months, up from just under 52% in the prior survey.
