Investor demand has switched from the pursuit of discounted and distressed real estate to the aggregation of traditional for-sale properties in quality markets, reports OwnAmerica, a single-family investment brokerage. 

"Discount investors started the ball rolling in the institutional single-family investing business when they converged on America's foreclosure capitals," said Greg Rand, CEO of OwnAmerica. "But a new, permanent class of institutional investors is attracted to a different list of markets – those cities that performed valiantly through the housing crisis."

Investor clients are looking for cities with strong fundamental, reliable yields and track records of steady capital appreciation, which includes cities like Denver, Houston and Pittsburgh, OwnAmerica explained.