Alabama’s ‘Magic City’ Emerges as Hottest Market for Investor Homebuyers

Investors are still snapping up properties despite high mortgage rates—but it might surprise you where. Along with investing hotspots like Miami and New York, some of the most popular areas for real estate investors to buy—and hold—are mid-sized Midwest and Sun Belt cities.Among the top 50 metro areas, Birmingham, AL had the highest net share of investor homebuyers in 2025, according to the Realtor.com economic research team's latest investor report.Known as the 'Magic City' for its rapid growth as an iron and steel boomtown in the late 19th century, Birmingham boasts low home prices and solid rents that make the town attractive to investors.Around 21% of home sales in Birmingham were to investors last year, while around 14.4% of homes sold in the area were sold by investors. That put the net share of investor home purchases at +6.6%, the highest of any major metro. The top ten list includes:Birmingham, AL 6.60%Memphis, TN 6.20%Kansas City, MO 5.70%St. Louis, MO 4.60%Pittsburgh, PA 4.40%Columbus, OH 4.30%Miami, FL 4.20%New York NY 3.40%Cleveland, OH 3.40%Salt Lake City, UT 3.10%"Seven of the metros — Memphis, Birmingham, Kansas City, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Cleveland —...