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

Investor ownership in Meade County, KS reaches an extraordinary concentration, with 1,107 out of 1,304 total SFR properties (84.9%) held by landlords. This saturation level indicates a market heavily skewed towards rental housing rather than traditional homeownership.

The market is overwhelmingly characterized by small-scale, individual investors, who own 977 properties, or 88.3% of the entire investor portfolio. In contrast, company-owned properties number just 131, accounting for only 11.8% of the investor-held stock.

A defining feature of this market is its complete reliance on cash transactions. All 1,107 investor-owned properties are classified as cash holdings, with zero properties being financed. This suggests a market composed of investors with high liquidity and a possible barrier to entry for those requiring financing.

The entity count further reinforces the dominance of individual landlords. There are 1,320 individual landlords compared to just 79 company entities, a ratio of nearly 17 to 1, highlighting the granular, non-institutional nature of ownership.

Nearly the entire investor portfolio is dedicated to rentals, with 1,106 of the 1,107 properties being non-owner-occupied. This near-100% rental focus solidifies the county's status as a landlord-centric market.

A critical finding for Meade County is the complete absence of recent sales data, which makes traditional pricing analysis impossible. There were no recorded SFR property purchases by either landlords or traditional homeowners in Q4 2025.

Due to the lack of transactions, a comparison between landlord and homeowner acquisition prices cannot be performed. The typical price gap or discount that investors often achieve is not observable in this market's current state.

Historical data is also exceptionally sparse, with the 2020-2023 period showing zero properties purchased by landlords, at an average price of $77,392. This lack of historical volume suggests a chronically illiquid market.

The absence of sales activity prevents any analysis of price appreciation or depreciation. Without transactional data points, it is impossible to determine how property values have trended from the pandemic era to the present.

The frozen state of the market implies that there is currently no price discovery occurring. Both buyers and sellers are on the sidelines, leading to a complete halt in transactional activity and making valuation assessments difficult.

Investor acquisition activity in Meade County was nonexistent in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing zero of the zero total SFR properties sold. This reflects a complete market freeze with no new inventory changing hands.

The inactivity was universal across all investor tiers. Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who dominate ownership, made no new purchases, accounting for 0.0% of the nonexistent landlord activity.

Similarly, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) were completely absent from the market, recording zero purchases. This is consistent with their overall 0.0% ownership share in the county.

No new landlords entered the market in Q4 2025, as indicated by zero purchases in the single-property (Tier 01) category. The pipeline for new, small-scale investment has completely halted.

The lack of any purchasing activity indicates extreme illiquidity or a potential standoff between buyers' price expectations and sellers' willingness to list properties, bringing the market to a standstill.

The investor market in Meade County is definitively controlled by small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords, owning between 1 and 10 properties, hold a combined 92.5% of all investor-owned SFRs.

First-time or single-holding investors are the absolute bedrock of the market. Landlords with just one property (Tier 01) own 835 homes, representing 75.0% of the entire investor-owned portfolio.

The distribution is heavily skewed towards the smallest tiers. After the single-property tier, two-property landlords hold another 9.0% (100 properties), and those with 3-5 properties own 5.8% (65 properties).

In stark contrast to national narratives, there is zero institutional ownership in Meade County. The 1,000+ property tier (Tier 09) holds 0.0% of the market, reinforcing its identity as a purely local, small-investor landscape.

Mid-size landlords are also scarce. The combined share of investors owning 11-50 properties is just 7.5%, highlighting a significant gap between the small mom-and-pop landlords and any larger-scale operations.

Individual investors are the dominant force across every single ownership tier in Meade County. There is no crossover point where companies become the majority owners, underscoring the market's reliance on personal holdings.

In the smallest tiers, individual ownership is near-total. Individuals own 92.5% of single-property portfolios, 93.0% of two-property portfolios, and 96.7% of 6-10 property portfolios.

Companies establish their strongest presence in the small-medium tiers. They own 29.2% of properties in the 3-5 tier and a significant 45.6% (36 properties) in the 11-20 tier, suggesting a strategic focus for the few corporate entities in the market.

Despite their presence in larger tiers, the absolute number of company-owned properties remains small. The 36 properties owned by companies in the 11-20 tier represent their largest single concentration.

The lack of any recent transaction data for either owner type makes it impossible to compare their acquisition strategies, pricing, or recent growth patterns. The ownership structure appears static due to market inactivity.

Investor ownership in Meade County is not evenly distributed but is instead intensely concentrated in just a few areas. The zip code 67864 is the epicenter, containing 601 investor-owned properties, which is more than half of the county's entire investor portfolio.

Following 67864, the zip codes 67869 (301 properties) and 67844 (204 properties) contain the vast majority of the remaining investor-owned homes. Together, these three zip codes account for over 1,100 properties, showcasing a hyper-localized investment strategy.

The concentration is not just in volume but also in market share. Investor ownership rates in these core areas are exceptionally high: 86.7% in 67864, 83.6% in 67844, and 82.5% in 67869. In these communities, rental properties are the norm, not the exception.

The regions with the highest count of investor properties are also the ones with the highest ownership rates. This alignment indicates that investors have targeted specific communities and achieved a dominant market position within them.

Outside of these core areas, investor presence is negligible. For example, the 67837 zip code has only 1 investor-owned property, highlighting the sharp geographic boundaries of investment activity within the county.

A comprehensive analysis of historical transaction dynamics in Meade County is not possible due to a lack of available data. There are no records of buy or sell transactions for landlords across any of the observed timeframes (All Time, 2024, 2025-Q3, etc.).

Without transaction counts, it is impossible to determine whether landlords have historically been net buyers or net sellers. The buy/sell ratio, a key indicator of market sentiment and direction, cannot be calculated.

The degree of inter-landlord trading remains unknown. The data does not show what percentage of transactions are between existing landlords, which would otherwise provide insight into market liquidity and consolidation.

Similarly, institutional transaction patterns cannot be assessed. With no institutional ownership or recorded transactions, their historical impact on the market is nonexistent.

The lack of historical transaction data suggests that the market may have been illiquid for an extended period, with the zero activity in Q4 2025 being a continuation of a long-term trend rather than a recent development.

The fourth quarter of 2025 saw a complete cessation of real estate transactions in Meade County, with a total of zero properties changing hands. Consequently, landlords' share of market transactions was 0.0%.

This market-wide freeze in activity means no investor tier recorded a single purchase or sale. The typically active mom-and-pop segments were just as dormant as the nonexistent institutional tier.

Due to the lack of deals, average purchase prices for Q4 2025 were $0 across all tiers. This prevents any analysis of pricing strategies, such as whether smaller investors paid more or less than larger ones might have.

Inter-landlord trading activity was also zero. It is impossible to assess the level of churn within the investor community or determine which tiers might be acquiring properties from other landlords.

The Q4 data confirms the findings from other sections: Meade County's real estate market was effectively frozen, with neither investors nor other buyer types engaging in any transactions.