Kearny (KS) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investor ownership in Kearny County, KS is exceptionally high, with landlords holding 661 of the 935 total SFR properties, a market penetration of 70.7%.

The market is overwhelmingly dominated by 855 individual investors, who own 589 properties, making up 89.1% of the investor-owned housing stock. In contrast, 53 companies own the remaining 72 properties (10.9%).

A defining characteristic of this market is its complete lack of leverage. All 661 investor-owned properties are owned outright with cash, with zero properties recorded as being financed.

The portfolio is entirely geared towards rental income, with 100% of the 661 properties classified as non-owner-occupied or rented.

This data paints a picture of a mature, stable rental market comprised of unleveraged, individual investors who are likely focused on long-term cash flow rather than speculative appreciation.

The real estate market in Kearny County, KS showed no sales activity in the final quarter of 2025, with zero transactions recorded for either landlords or traditional homeowners.

This lack of sales data makes it impossible to compare acquisition prices between investor and non-investor buyers or to establish a current market price trend.

The only available historical data point is an average price of $161,305 from the 2020-2023 period, but with zero properties associated with this average, its utility is limited.

The absence of transactions suggests a market characterized by long-term holds where properties rarely come up for sale.

Consequently, analysis of price appreciation, market momentum, or strategic pricing differences between buyer types is not feasible for this period.

Investor purchasing activity in Kearny County, KS came to a complete standstill in Q4 2025, with landlords acquiring zero SFR properties.

This inactivity mirrored the broader market, which also recorded a total of 0 SFR purchases during the quarter, giving landlords a 0.0% market share of a non-existent market.

No new landlords entered the market, and no existing investors expanded their portfolios, as evidenced by zero purchases in the single-property tier.

The lack of acquisitions was consistent across all investor sizes; mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) and institutional investors (1000+ properties) both purchased 0 homes.

This data points to an exceptionally stable or stagnant market, where the high rate of existing investor ownership is met with virtually no turnover or new investment activity.

The investor landscape in Kearny County, KS is the definitive example of a mom-and-pop market, with landlords owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) controlling a combined 95.3% of all investor-owned SFRs.

Ownership is highly concentrated at the smallest scale, as single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone own 554 properties, representing 81.2% of the entire investor portfolio.

The next largest tiers are also small, with two-property owners holding 7.3% and those with 3-5 properties holding 4.5%.

There is a complete absence of large-scale institutional ownership. Investors in the 1000+ property tier (Tier 09) own zero properties, reinforcing the market's local, small-scale character.

The largest local portfolio consists of a single entity in the 51-100 property tier, which owns just one property in this county, further highlighting the lack of large, consolidated holdings.

Individual investors form the foundation of the market, owning 92.6% of single-property portfolios (513 properties) and 92.0% of two-property portfolios (46 properties).

A clear shift in ownership structure occurs as portfolios grow. In the 6-10 property tier, companies become the majority owners, holding 53.3% of the properties (8 properties) compared to 46.7% for individuals.

This crossover point indicates a trend toward professionalization, where investors with larger holdings are more likely to operate under a corporate entity rather than as individuals.

Even in the 11-20 property tier, individuals maintain a strong presence, owning 20 properties (66.7%), suggesting that incorporation is a strategic choice rather than a necessity for mid-size landlords in this market.

Due to the lack of transaction data, it's impossible to compare acquisition prices or strategies between individual and company owners within these tiers.

Investor activity in Kearny County is not evenly distributed but is instead highly concentrated in specific communities. The zip code 67860 (Lakin) is the epicenter of investor ownership, with 519 landlord-owned SFRs.

The highest rate of investor penetration is found in 67838 (Deerfield), where landlords own 140 properties, accounting for 72.5% of the area's SFR housing stock.

The 67860 zip code also shows a remarkable concentration, with its 519 investor properties representing 70.2% of its total SFRs.

One smaller zip code, 67857 (Hartland), shows a 100.0% investor ownership rate, though this is based on a very small sample of just 2 properties.

This geographic clustering indicates that investor strategy has targeted specific local areas, leading to an exceptionally high density of rental properties within those boundaries.

A complete lack of historical transaction data for Kearny County, KS, makes it impossible to analyze long-term investor behavior regarding buying and selling.

Key metrics such as the buy/sell ratio, which determines if investors are in an accumulation or disposition phase, cannot be calculated.

Analysis of inter-landlord trading is also not possible. There is no data to show what percentage of transactions occur between existing investors, a key indicator of market liquidity and sophistication.

Similarly, comparing average buy prices to sell prices over time to infer potential profit margins cannot be performed.

This data gap is itself an insight, strongly suggesting that the local market is characterized by a buy-and-hold strategy where properties are rarely sold, resulting in too few transactions to create a meaningful historical record.

The fourth quarter of 2025 was marked by a complete lack of real estate transactions in Kearny County, KS, with a total of 0 sales recorded.

As a result, landlords' share of the market was 0.0%, as there were no transactions in which to participate.

Transaction volume was zero across all investor tiers, from single-property owners to the largest landlords in the market.

Due to the absence of sales, no analysis of Q4 purchase prices by tier can be conducted. It is impossible to determine which tiers might pay more or less for properties.

Furthermore, with no purchases, there was no inter-landlord trading activity, meaning no investors sold properties to other investors during the quarter.