Investor Data

Overview

Tracking investor and operator activity in the housing market is important for understanding market dynamics and anticipating shifts. These non-traditional homeowners can impact local and national housing trends, making their movements and potential distress signals valuable indicators.

While rhetoric and opinions about housing market investors are common, access to objective, data-driven analysis has been limited. Previously, this information was restricted to expensive subscriptions or ad hoc marketing reports, leaving a gap in the market for a reliable, continuous, and impartial data source.

Parcl Labs addresses this need by providing complete, accessible data on U.S. housing market investors and operators. Our work is trusted by industry leaders, including the Wall Street Journal, Moody's Analytics, and ResiClub.

We offer investor data at three distinct levels:

1. Investors as an overall cohort: Broad trends across all investor types.
2. Single-family home portfolio owners: Categorized by portfolio size:
   • 1000+ units
   • 100-999 units
   • 10-99 units
   • 2-9 units
3. True owner entities: Property-level data and events mapped to top-level corporate names (e.g., Invitation Homes, American Homes 4 Rent, Progress Residential)

Each investor group is analyzed using a tailored methodology designed for transparency, actionability, and relevance to our users. This multi-tiered approach allows for a nuanced understanding of investor behavior across different scales and strategies in the housing market.

Investor Metrics Methodology

Parcl Labs uses an owner names-based indexing system to identify investor-owned properties. This system recognizes common investment entity naming conventions (LLC, LP, GP, Trust, Homes, Properties) as ownership indicators.

The Investor Metrics category tracks ownership patterns, activity (acquisitions, dispositions, listings, rentals), and performance of the overall investor cohort across all U.S. property types. This data offers insights into investor behavior and market impact, regardless of portfolio size or property focus.

For detailed information on available endpoints and usage, refer to our Investor Metrics documentation section.

Portfolio Metrics Methodology

Parcl Labs uses an algorithm to determine the number of single-family units an investor owns nationwide in the US for Portfolio Metrics endpoints. Owner-occupied units are excluded from portfolio counts. Portfolio sizes reflect total US holdings, not just properties within a single Parcl ID.

Investors are categorized into segments based on their total property count:

1. 2-9 Properties: Investors who own between two and nine single family homes. This segment typically includes individual or small-scale investors.
2. 10-99 Properties: Investors managing between ten and ninety-nine single family homes.
3. 100-999 Properties: Mid-sized investors that own between one hundred and nine hundred ninety-nine single family homes.
4. 1000+ Properties: The largest scale of investors, including institutional investors and REITs, owning over a thousand single family homes.
5. All Portfolios: This category combines all the above segments, providing a complete view of the single family home investment across the market.

This segmentation allows for nuanced analysis of investor behavior and market impact across different operational scales, from local mom & pop operators to large national entities.

For detailed information on available endpoints and usage, refer to our Portfolio Metrics documentation section.

True Owner Entity Methodology

Parcl Labs uses an advanced algorithm to identify and track ‘true owners’ in the housing market—top-level corporate entities that control large property portfolios. These corporations often use thousands of obscure and rotating LLCs to mask their activities, making it difficult to trace ownership of individual properties.

Our algorithm overcomes this challenge by integrating multiple data sources to link these LLCs to their associated portfolio owners. It processes millions of data points daily, analyzing naming conventions, transaction patterns, corporate structures, and geospatial data to map LLCs back to their true corporate owners. The system continuously updates to reflect changes in ownership structures and market activity, ensuring our data remains accurate and up-to-date.

By linking true owner data to individual properties, we can track these entities in real time, providing a live view of their activities—such as acquisitions, dispositions, listings, and rentals—delivering precise and actionable insights into their market movements and performance.

True owner data is accessible via property-level endpoints. Users can retrieve inventory information through the property search endpoint and event data (acquisitions, dispositions, rental activity, and for-sale listing activity) via the property event endpoint.

Currently available true owners include AMH, TRICON, INVITATION_HOMES, HOME_PARTNERS_OF_AMERICA, PROGRESS_RESIDENTIAL, FIRSTKEY_HOMES, and AMHERST.

Our roadmap includes expanded true owner coverage, including additional SFR operators, homebuilders, and iBuyers.

For entity analysis, explore our Parcl Labs Cookbook, featuring notebooks easily customizable to your markets and operators of interest.