Buried in the report is this little table:Broken out by housing segment, December sales performed as follows:$1 - $99,999: decreased 15.7 percent$100,000 - $149,999: decreased 20.2 percent$150,000 - $249,999: increased 13.2 percent$250,000 - $499,999: increased 44.6 percent$500,000 - $749,999: increased 80.8 percent$750,000 and above: increased 54.0 percentSo homes at the low end of the market saw a *decrease* in the number of homes sold. 

Hedge funds quietly entering this segment of the market is the most under-appreciated trend in real estate.  

On the nightly news here they have segments all the time about how local Idahoans are not able to afford to buy a home here anymore.

Buyer demand was in the High category in all market segments except lower-priced single-family homes where demand remained in the Limited category.

It is a growing/changing segment that we may see standards develop, but today, if you are making an acquisition, you're going to have it priced based on those factors. 

The market in most segments is extremely hot and the best thing you can possibly do right now is sell every rental property you own and turn it into cash.

If the housing demand was in a particular segment, I'd be more concerned as economic factors would impact it more.

A little bit of cooling in some segments of the market with buyer activity but prices are not dipping.

Same goes with any segment of REI that you are interested in.

@Josephine Wilson I admittedly have not read all of the pages of this post but what I did read had not mentioned an important segment and driver to answer your question of who is buying at these levels: fund investors.