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

The total landlord-owned SFR portfolio in Perry County, MO, encompasses 1,966 properties, representing a significant 26.0% of the county's 7,549 total SFR properties.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate this market segment, owning 1,382 distinct SFR properties (70.3% of the landlord-owned portfolio), compared to companies which own 596 properties (30.3%).

A strong rental-focused strategy is evident, with 1,916 properties identified as rented, accounting for 97.5% of all investor-owned SFR properties in the county.

In terms of financing, cash purchases are the prevailing method, with 1,709 properties owned outright for cash, while only 257 properties are financed, indicating a preference for debt-free holdings among investors.

The sheer volume of individual landlords, totaling 1,719 entities, far surpasses the 394 company landlords, establishing an individual-to-company entity ratio of 4.36:1, confirming the market's grassroots nature.

The high percentage of rented properties combined with a preference for cash ownership suggests a mature, stable rental market where investors seek long-term, low-leverage income streams.

Landlord acquisition prices in Perry County have shown extreme quarter-over-quarter volatility, although these averages are based on extremely limited or no recorded transactions in recent periods.

In Q3 2025, landlords paid an average of $196,458, securing a notable 24.1% discount compared to traditional homeowners who paid $258,669, a difference of $62,211 per property.

This favorable pricing for landlords reversed dramatically in Q2 2025, when the average landlord acquisition price was $361,461, representing a substantial 69.9% premium or $148,693 more than homeowners at $212,768.

Similarly, Q1 2025 exhibited a significant price advantage for landlords, who paid $217,419 versus homeowners' $288,966, equating to a 24.8% discount or $71,547 per property.

It is critical to note that landlord purchase activity has been virtually non-existent in recent periods, with 0 distinct SFR properties purchased by landlords in 2024-Q4, 2025-Q1, 2025-Q2, and 2025-Q3, making direct price comparisons and trend analysis challenging due to negligible transaction volumes.

Despite the lack of recent landlord purchases, the average acquisition price for 2020-2023 was $187,330, suggesting a significant increase to the reported average for Year 2025 at $275,033, though this is also based on very low volume.

Landlord purchasing activity in Perry County was entirely absent in Q4 2025, with no recorded landlord acquisitions despite one total SFR property sale occurring in the market.

This pervasive inactivity extended across all investor segments, as both mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) and institutional investors (Tier 09) registered 0 purchases during the quarter.

Consequently, no new single-property landlords (Tier 01) entered the market in Q4 2025, signaling a complete pause in new investor formation for the period.

The overall Q4 market in Perry County was characterized by extremely low transaction volume, with only 1 total SFR property purchased, reflecting a notably quiet period for real estate sales.

This lack of recent activity highlights a significant slowdown in investor engagement within the county's SFR market, contrasting sharply with historical purchasing trends.

Perry County's investor-owned SFR market is overwhelmingly dominated by mom-and-pop landlords, with Tiers 01-04 (1-10 properties) collectively controlling 92.9% of the properties.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone represent the largest segment, owning 1,434 distinct SFR properties, which constitutes 70.9% of the total investor-owned portfolio.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a negligible share, accounting for just 1 property or 0.0% of the investor-owned market, indicating their minimal presence in this county.

The ownership distribution reveals a steep drop-off in holdings as portfolio size increases; for instance, the small-medium landlord segment (11-20 properties) holds 132 properties (6.5%), which is significantly less than the mom-and-pop categories but still substantially more than the larger tiers.

Data on acquisition prices by tier is not available for Perry County, precluding an analysis of whether larger investors pay more or less per property.

This market structure highlights a heavy reliance on individual and small-scale investors, with no significant shift towards larger corporate ownership observable in historical data, reinforcing the local nature of the investment landscape.

The ownership landscape in Perry County demonstrates a clear shift in dominance from individual to company investors as portfolio sizes grow.

Individual owners are paramount in the smallest segments, accounting for 78.6% of single-property (Tier 01) holdings with 1,132 properties, and 70.2% of two-property (Tier 02) portfolios with 120 properties.

A significant crossover point occurs at the 6-10 property tier, where companies become the majority owners, holding 58.0% of properties (29 properties) compared to 42.0% for individuals (21 properties).

This company dominance intensifies in the subsequent tier, with companies controlling an overwhelming 90.2% of properties in the small-medium 11-20 property tier (119 properties), sharply contrasting with individuals holding only 9.8% (13 properties).

While this data clearly delineates the ownership split by type across tiers, specific acquisition pricing differences between individual and company buyers within these tiers are not available for analysis.

This pattern underscores that while individual investors form the vast base of the market, companies efficiently scale up to dominate larger portfolio sizes starting from the mid-sized landlord segments, indicating distinct investment strategies by entity type.

Investor-owned SFR properties in Perry County are notably concentrated within specific zip codes, revealing localized patterns of activity.

MO-Perry-63748 has the highest number of investor-owned properties, totaling 113, followed by MO-Perry-63732 with 89 properties, indicating these are key hubs for property acquisition.

However, when considering the investor ownership rate, MO-Perry-63770 leads with 48.8% of its SFR properties owned by landlords, closely followed by MO-Perry-63737 at 41.7%, and MO-Perry-63732 at 39.4%.

The distinction between raw property count and ownership rate is clear: MO-Perry-63748, despite having the highest number of investor properties, ranks fourth in market penetration at 27.7%, demonstrating that sheer volume does not always equate to the highest density of investor ownership.

This divergence suggests varying market dynamics across the county's sub-geographies, with investors either targeting regions with a larger total housing stock or those offering higher relative opportunities for rental penetration.

While geographic distribution of holdings is evident, specific acquisition prices across these individual zip codes are not available, limiting insights into regional pricing strategies or premium/discount trends.

Landlords in Perry County consistently demonstrate a strong net buyer position across recent historical timeframes, indicating sustained property accumulation.

In Year 2025, landlords purchased 69 properties against only 13 sells, resulting in a robust buy/sell ratio of 5.3x, signifying a significant expansion of their portfolios.

This net buying trend is consistent with previous periods, as Year 2024 also saw landlords as net buyers, acquiring 76 properties and selling 19, for a 4.0x buy/sell ratio.

Quarterly activity further illustrates this pattern, with Q3 2025 recording 21 buys and 5 sells (4.2x ratio), and Q2 2025 showing 29 buys and 5 sells (5.8x ratio), highlighting a continuous drive for acquisition.

In stark contrast to overall landlord activity, institutional investors (1000+ tier) show no recorded buy or sell transactions across any timeframe, underscoring their complete absence from the transactional market in Perry County.

The lack of institutional activity defines a unique market dynamic where growth and turnover are exclusively driven by smaller, non-institutional landlords.

The available data does not provide insights into the percentage of inter-landlord transactions or average buy versus sell prices, limiting the analysis of implied profit margins or internal market liquidity.

Landlord transaction activity in Perry County was entirely absent in Q4 2025, with no recorded buy or sell transactions despite two total SFR property transactions occurring in the market.

This complete lack of activity was pervasive across all landlord segments; both mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) and institutional investors (Tier 09) registered 0 transactions during the quarter.

Consequently, there is no available data to assess average purchase prices by tier, or to determine which tiers, if any, demonstrated a price advantage or disadvantage.

The absence of landlord transactions also means no inter-landlord trading activity was recorded for Q4 2025, preventing insights into market liquidity or internal investor trading patterns.

Comparing this zero transaction activity to the existing ownership distribution (Section 8), which shows a strong mom-and-pop base, highlights a significant disconnect between existing portfolio size and recent market engagement.

The extremely quiet Q4 transaction environment indicates a period of dormancy for landlord activity, with no new properties changing hands among investors or from other buyers in Perry County.