By Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research

Investors remain active in the existing home sales residential market. About 19 percent of REALTOR® respondents reported a sale to an investor in November 2013. The share of investors has generally stayed at about this level since 2008.

Cash sales account for about 70 percent of purchases made by investors, who are frequently mentioned as winning in bidding against first time buyers, who generally need to obtain a mortgage.