Dive Brief:

• Real estate investors have turned their attention away from single-family homes and toward multifamily projects, the California Association of Realtors reported.

• Investors’ search for discount-priced, distressed houses—like vacant foreclosures priced for quick sale—has become more difficult over the past two years as inventory tightens and more potential owner-occupants have started purchasing the units, the association said in its 2015 Investor Survey.

• The survey found 21% of investors purchased multifamily properties over the past year, up from 19% in 2014 and 14% in 2013.

Dive Insight:

A twist: 80% of the transactions were of non-distressed units, up from 70% in 2014, which the association attributed to a recovering housing market. And the median sales price of an investor-purchased unit rose from $320,000 last year to $375,000—an indication that the inventory of higher-priced properties is greater than that of more affordable dwellings.