Perry (AR) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investors own a significant 22.3% of the single-family residential market in Perry County, AR, controlling 558 out of 2,504 total properties.

The ownership landscape is overwhelmingly characterized by small, individual investors rather than corporations. Individuals own 509 properties (91.2% of the investor portfolio), while companies own just 56 properties (10.0%).

This individual dominance extends to the entity level, where 670 of the 711 total landlords (94.2%) are individuals, reinforcing the 'mom-and-pop' nature of the local rental market.

A striking financial characteristic of this market is the near-total absence of leverage. An overwhelming 98.7% of investor-owned properties (551) are held in cash, with only 7 properties reported as financed, suggesting a financially conservative and stable investor base.

The portfolio is actively managed for returns, with 549 of the 558 properties (98.4%) classified as rented, confirming that these homes are part of the active rental supply for the county.

Investors in Perry County demonstrate a consistent and remarkable ability to acquire properties at a deep discount compared to traditional homeowners. In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $107,500, a staggering 60.2% less than the $269,960 paid by homeowners.

This price gap translates to a direct financial advantage of $162,460 per property, indicating that investors are not competing for the same properties as typical homebuyers.

This is not a recent phenomenon but a persistent market dynamic. The Q4 discount follows similarly large price gaps in Q3 2025 (64.6% discount) and Q2 2025 (54.7% discount), confirming a sustained strategy of targeting undervalued assets.

Even within this discounted segment of the market, prices are appreciating. The average Q4 2025 landlord acquisition price of $107,500 is notably higher than the average of $83,814 during the 2020-2023 period, signaling rising values across all market tiers.

The data suggests landlords operate in a separate market lane, likely focusing on properties requiring renovation, sold under distress, or acquired through off-market channels that are inaccessible or undesirable to traditional owner-occupant buyers.

Despite low overall market volume, landlords played a major role in Q4 2025 activity, purchasing 2 of the 5 total SFRs sold, capturing a 40.0% market share.

The entirety of this purchasing power came from the smallest investor segment. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) accounted for 100.0% of all investor acquisitions during the quarter.

Growth in the investor market is being fueled by new entrants. Both properties were purchased by investors in the single-property tier, with 4 new landlord entities being created, suggesting co-ownership or new individuals starting their investment journey.

In stark contrast, large-scale institutional investors (Tier 09) were completely absent from the market, making zero purchases in Q4.

This Q4 activity paints a clear picture of a market driven not by large corporations, but by new, small-scale landlords expanding the local rental stock one property at a time.

The investor ownership structure in Perry County is extremely concentrated at the smallest scale. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, control 98.9% of all investor-owned single-family homes.

The foundation of this market is the single-property landlord. This group (Tier 01) alone owns 445 properties, which constitutes a massive 77.8% of the entire investor portfolio.

As portfolio size increases, investor presence drops off dramatically. Landlords with 2 properties (Tier 02) own 10.1% of the stock, while those with 3-5 properties (Tier 03) own 8.0%.

The narrative of large corporate landlords is non-existent in this county. Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a near-zero footprint, owning just one single property, or 0.2% of the total investor housing supply.

Mid-size landlords are also exceptionally rare, with investors owning 11-50 properties controlling a combined 0.8% of the market, reinforcing that the local rental landscape is almost entirely supported by small, local investors.

While individuals own the vast majority of rental properties overall, a clear pattern of incorporation emerges as investors scale their portfolios. The 6-10 property tier (Tier 04) marks the critical crossover point where companies first hold a majority stake, owning 52.9% of properties in that segment.

Individual investors are the undisputed leaders at the entry level of the market. They own 94.5% of all single-property rentals and maintain strong majorities in the two-property (82.8%) and 3-5 property (80.4%) tiers.

The trend toward corporate ownership accelerates in larger portfolios. Companies own an even larger majority (66.7%) in the 21-50 property tier, indicating that professionalization through entities like LLCs is standard practice for mid-size landlords.

The 11-20 property tier represents a balanced transition point, with ownership split exactly 50/50 between individuals and companies.

This data reveals a natural lifecycle of real estate investing in the county: investors typically start as individuals and then transition to a corporate structure as their holdings grow to a scale that warrants more formal management and liability protection.

Investor ownership is not evenly distributed across Perry County, with certain zip codes serving as clear hubs for rental properties. The 72126 zip code is the epicenter by volume, containing 256 investor-owned homes.

Following 72126, other key areas for investor activity by count include 72070 (119 properties) and 72016 (82 properties), which together with the leader account for a large portion of the county's rental stock.

However, the highest concentration of investors is found elsewhere. In the 72857 zip code, investors own 42.7% of all single-family homes, an extremely high penetration rate indicating a market heavily skewed toward rentals.

This highlights a key distinction between scale and saturation. The area with the most investor properties, 72126, has a high but lower rate of 23.7%, while the area with the highest rate, 72857, has a smaller count of 32 properties.

Several other zip codes also show significant investor presence, including 72070 (25.3% rate) and 72001 (21.7% rate), demonstrating widespread but geographically focused investment throughout the county.

No historical transaction data was available for Perry County, AR. Analysis of long-term buy/sell ratios, landlord-to-landlord sales, and price trends cannot be performed.

Consequently, it is not possible to determine if landlords have historically been net buyers or net sellers in this market.

Trends in transaction volume, such as increases or decreases in market liquidity over time, cannot be analyzed.

The proportion of sales that occur between investors, a key indicator of market maturity, is also unknown.

Similarly, a historical comparison of average buy prices versus average sell prices to infer potential investor profit margins is not possible with the available data.

Investors were a formidable force in the Q4 2025 market, participating in 4 of the 9 total transactions for a 44.4% share of all activity.

This activity was exclusively driven by the smallest players. All 4 landlord transactions were conducted by investors in the single-property (Tier 01) category, with zero activity from mid-size or institutional tiers.

The average purchase price for these new mom-and-pop investors was $107,500, consistent with the pricing data that shows landlords acquiring properties at a significant discount to the rest of the market.

A key finding is the source of these properties: 0% of landlord purchases came from other landlords. This reveals that new investors are acquiring their properties from traditional homeowners, not from a secondary market of existing investors selling their assets.

The transaction data confirms that market growth is fueled by new, small investors who are successfully sourcing deals from the public market, while larger, established investors remained on the sidelines during the quarter.