Investors bought more than half of all homes sold last year in these 21 DFW zip codes
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Even as the housing market starts to cool, in many neighborhoods in North Texas it remains hot for investors.
According to data from the real estate research firm CoreLogic, nearly one out of every three homes sold in the Dallas – Fort Worth area in August was bought by an investor.
In the past 18 months, nationwide investors have been buying homes in record numbers.
According to a CBS 11 News analysis of data from CoreLogic, last year investors purchased more than 50% of all homes sold in 21 zip codes in the DFW area. Three of the top five zip codes with highest percentage of homes bought by investors were in older neighborhoods just outside downtown Fort Worth.
Investors said what made these areas attractive was the low home prices.
In January 2021, when investor activity began picking up, the average listed price of a single-family home in these 21 zip codes was $213,000, according to Realtor.com data.
"This is primetime for these areas to gentrify," said Joe Boston, a mid-sized home investor.
Boston currently owns 17 properties, many on the East side of Fort Worth. While large corporate investors often keep properties as rentals, Boston typically buys a property and then flips it.
"I think we are one of the saviors of communities," he said. "A lot of the time we are frown upon because of the profit, but we are behind the scenes improving these neighborhoods."
For established homeowners, the influx of investor buyers comes with concerns. While home values increase with more investor activity, often so does rent and property taxes.
"It feels like survival of the fittest as to who still will be here," said Diana Martinez, whose family has owned a home on the East side of Fort Worth for more than 25 years. "We were getting three to five calls every day from people wanting to buy our house. It's kind of like where's the 'for sale' sign. We are really wondering where it is because I don't see it anywhere."
While many of her neighbors in recent years have sold their homes, when investors ask, Martinez's answer is no.
"For me, it's where I grew up," she explained. "My parents were the first in their family to become homeowners. That's something to people, especially if you are first generation."
Earlier this year in a U.S. Senate hearing, Democratic lawmakers called out large corporate investors for gobbling up homes during the pandemic, especially in minority neighborhoods.
Lawmakers testified in some cases homes bought by corporate investors could have gone to first time homebuyers, helping to close the racial homeownership gap.
Of the 21 zips codes in North Texas where investors accounted for more than 50% of home sales, 20 are in majority Black or Hispanic neighborhoods, based on U.S Census data.
