Plymouth (IA) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords hold a significant 844 Single-Family Residential properties in Plymouth County, accounting for 11.1% of the total 7,599 SFRs in the market.

Individual investors are the backbone of the local rental market, owning 665 properties, which constitutes a commanding 78.8% of the entire investor-owned portfolio. Company-owned properties trail significantly at 200, or 23.7% of the total.

The investor market in Plymouth County shows a strong preference for un-leveraged assets. Cash purchases account for 672 properties, nearly four times the 172 properties that are financed, signaling a well-capitalized investor base or a strategy focused on free cash flow.

The entity count further solidifies the dominance of small investors, with 753 individual landlords compared to just 109 company landlords. This 7-to-1 ratio of individuals to companies highlights a market driven by local entrepreneurs rather than larger corporations.

The primary purpose of these holdings is clear, with 803 properties classified as rented. This high rental penetration confirms that the vast majority of the investor portfolio is actively serving as housing supply for the rental market.

Landlords in Plymouth County demonstrate a consistent ability to acquire properties well below market rates paid by traditional homebuyers. In Q4 2025, they purchased homes for an average price of $257,045, a substantial 18.2% discount compared to the homeowner average of $314,117.

The financial advantage for investors is significant, translating to an average savings of $57,072 per property in the last quarter alone. This pricing power is a key driver of investor activity in the region.

Analysis of previous quarters reveals an even more dramatic pricing gap, indicating a pattern of opportunistic buying. In Q3 2025, the landlord discount was an astounding 55.9% ($147,277), and in Q1 2025, it peaked at an incredible 79.1% ($245,772).

The extreme variability in the quarterly discount suggests that landlords are not competing for the same retail-priced homes as traditional buyers. Instead, they appear to be sourcing deals through alternative channels, potentially including distressed sales, off-market properties, or fixer-uppers.

While prices have risen from the 2020-2023 average of $128,585, the average price in 2025 ($179,237) remains nearly identical to 2024 ($179,568), suggesting a stabilization in acquisition costs for investors despite broader market fluctuations.

Investor activity accounted for a notable portion of the market in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 9 of the 71 total SFRs sold, capturing a 12.7% market share of all transactions.

The entirety of this purchasing activity was driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) acquired 9 properties, representing 90.0% of all landlord acquisitions, with landlords in the 11-20 property tier making up the remaining 10.0%.

The market saw the entry of 4 new single-property landlords in Q4. These new investors purchased 3 properties, making up 30.0% of all landlord acquisitions and demonstrating continued growth at the smallest end of the investor spectrum.

Small landlords in the 3-5 property tier were the most active buyers in Q4, purchasing 4 properties, which accounted for 40.0% of all investor acquisitions for the quarter.

There was a complete absence of institutional buying activity. Investors in the 1,000+ property tier (Tier 09) purchased zero properties, reinforcing that Plymouth County's investor market is exclusively local and small-scale in nature.

The investor landscape in Plymouth County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords, who own between 1 and 10 properties, collectively hold 94.9% of all investor-owned SFRs.

First-time or single-holding investors are the most significant force in the market. The 'Single-property' tier alone accounts for 499 properties, representing a 55.5% majority share of the entire investor portfolio.

The ownership concentration rapidly diminishes as portfolio size increases. Landlords with 11-20 properties hold just 4.8% of the market, and those with 21-50 properties control a minuscule 0.2%.

In stark contrast to national narratives, institutional capital has no footprint in Plymouth County's SFR market. The 1,000+ property tier holds zero properties, a clear indication that this is a market shaped entirely by local and regional investors.

This distribution reveals a highly fragmented and decentralized rental market, where market power is spread across hundreds of small landlords rather than being concentrated in the hands of a few large corporations.

Individual investors maintain majority ownership across all portfolio sizes in Plymouth County, a market characteristic that defies typical trends where companies dominate larger tiers. There is no crossover point where corporate ownership surpasses individual holdings.

The most balanced tier is the 'Small landlord (6-10)' category, where individuals own 59 properties (51.8%) and companies own 55 (48.2%). This near-even split represents the peak of corporate penetration in the local market.

At the entry level, individual ownership is most pronounced. Among single-property landlords, 450 out of 506 properties (88.9%) are owned by individuals, highlighting that new market entrants are overwhelmingly private persons rather than corporate entities.

Even in the largest active tier, 'Small-medium (11-20)', individuals retain a 53.5% majority, owning 23 properties compared to 20 owned by companies. This pattern reinforces the deeply-rooted presence of individual capital throughout the entire investor ecosystem.

This ownership structure indicates that as local investors grow their portfolios, they tend to do so under their own names rather than forming larger corporate structures, preserving the market's mom-and-pop character even at higher ownership levels.

Geographic analysis reveals that investor ownership in Plymouth County is not evenly distributed, but rather concentrated in specific zip codes. The 51031 area is the clear epicenter, containing 423 investor-owned SFRs, which is more than half of the county's entire investor portfolio.

The investor ownership rate in this core area (51031) stands at 11.4%, closely mirroring the county-wide average and indicating a deep and established rental market.

Other pockets of significant investor presence include the 51028 zip code, with 90 properties and a higher-than-average ownership rate of 14.8%, and the 51001 zip code, with 86 properties and an 11.8% rate.

The data points to a potential anomaly in the 51036 zip code, which reports a 100.0% investor ownership rate. This likely represents a very small area with few SFR properties, rather than a large-scale investor takeover.

This geographic concentration suggests that investors are targeting specific neighborhoods, possibly driven by factors like proximity to amenities, school districts, or specific housing stock characteristics that are favorable for rentals.

Transaction data clearly shows that landlords in Plymouth County are in an aggressive accumulation phase. During Q4 2025, they purchased 11 properties while selling only 3, establishing a strong net-buyer position.

This behavior is not a recent development but a sustained trend. For the full year of 2025, landlords have bought 34 SFRs and sold 15, resulting in a net gain of 19 properties to the rental market. This represents a buy-to-sell ratio of 2.27 to 1.

The pattern was even more pronounced in 2024, when landlords executed 48 buy transactions against just 12 sell transactions. This 4-to-1 buy/sell ratio demonstrates a period of significant portfolio expansion across the county.

With no institutional activity, this net buying pressure is entirely attributable to small and mid-size local investors who are actively growing their holdings and increasing their market footprint.

The consistent net-positive transaction flow indicates strong confidence in the local rental market and a long-term investment strategy focused on asset accumulation rather than short-term flipping or divestment.

In Q4 2025, landlords participated in 11 of the 113 total SFR transactions in Plymouth County, capturing a 9.7% share of all market activity. This activity was exclusively conducted by mom-and-pop investors.

A striking price disparity emerged among buyers, with new single-property investors (Tier 1) paying a significantly higher average price of $484,500. This is more than triple the average price paid by more established small landlords in the 3-5 property tier ($142,875), suggesting new entrants may be buying retail-priced properties.

The market for landlord-to-landlord sales appears limited. Only one transaction in Q4, representing 9.1% of investor deals, involved a property being sold from one landlord to another. This trade occurred within the 6-10 property tier.

Small landlords in the 3-5 property tier and new single-property landlords were the most active, each accounting for 4 transactions. This highlights that growth is occurring at both the entry-level and among investors looking to expand small portfolios.

There were zero transactions by institutional investors, reinforcing their complete absence from the county's transactional market and leaving the field entirely to smaller, local players.