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Investor home purchases fell 6% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching their lowest level since 2020, Real Estate News reported. Investors still made up 19% of home purchases, but the buying environment has changed sharply from the low-rate years. Mortgage rates are higher, price growth has slowed in many markets, and ownership costs such as insurance, property taxes, and maintenance are cutting into margins before buyers even get to the rental side of the deal.
Investor purchases dropped 35% in Detroit, 25% in Orlando, and 21% in Cleveland. Activity moved the other way in San Francisco, Virginia Beach, and San Jose, where investor purchases rose 19%, 15%, and 12%, respectively. Florida can still look attractive on purchase price, but insurance and HOA costs can change the monthly picture quickly.
For foreign national buyers comparing US markets from abroad, those local cost differences make early underwriting hard to skip. A city can look attractive from a distance, but the numbers can change once taxes, insurance, HOA dues, reserves, and rental assumptions are reviewed together.
That being said, foreign nationals do not need to step away from US real estate; they need to choose markets and loan structures with more consideration. HomeAbroad works with foreign nationals on DSCR loans, where qualification is tied to the property’s rental income rather than the borrower’s personal income or credit history.
That structure fits the current cost environment because the rent has to be tested against the full mortgage payment, including principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA. For many foreign national buyers, that early financing review can shape which markets make sense, which properties are worth pursuing, and how much room the deal has before they are already under contract.
In HomeAbroad’s foreign national files, purchase price often gets most of the attention early, while insurance, taxes, reserves, HOA dues, and debt service are reviewed too late in the process. DSCR underwriting puts those costs in front of the buyer before they are under contract, so the property is evaluated on rental strength instead of price alone.
Steven Glick
Director of Mortgage Sales
Ziffy Mortgage
NMLS #1231769A lower purchase price does not automatically make a rental property a better investment. With a DSCR loan, the property has to justify itself through the rent it can produce. That discipline helps protect the buyer because they are not relying only on appreciation assumptions. They are looking at whether the deal can support real cash flow from day one.
The investor pullback of early 2026 is a signal worth reading, not a reason to step back. For foreign nationals, the quality of deal review and market selection matters more than it did in the low-rate years. Foreign nationals evaluating US rental properties can run the numbers on a specific property using HomeAbroad’s DSCR calculator or speak with a loan advisor before they have committed to a market or a property.
