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

Individual landlords are the dominant force in Perry County, owning 580 (83.9%) of the 691 investor-owned SFR properties, significantly outweighing the 117 properties (16.9%) held by companies.

A remarkable 94.8% (655 properties) of the landlord-owned portfolio in Perry County was acquired entirely in cash, highlighting a strong preference for unfinanced assets among investors.

The vast majority of landlord-owned properties, 97.7% (675 properties), are utilized as rentals, underscoring the investor-focused nature of these holdings within the county.

With 686 individual landlords compared to 83 company landlords, individuals represent 89.2% of all landlord entities, despite owning an average of 0.85 properties per entity versus 1.41 for companies.

In a reversal of typical market trends, landlords in Perry County paid a significant premium of $61,058 (36.3%) more than traditional homeowners in Q4 2025, with average acquisition prices of $229,174 compared to $168,116.

The price gap between landlords and homeowners has been highly inconsistent across 2025: landlords secured a substantial 41.2% discount ($97,379) in Q2, but paid premiums of 7.2% ($9,373) in Q3 and an extraordinary 93.9% ($150,447) in Q1.

Despite listed average acquisition prices, the data indicates 0 distinct SFR properties were actually purchased by landlords in Q4 2025, Q3 2025, Q2 2025, Q1 2025, or any other timeframe provided, suggesting extremely low recorded acquisition activity in recent periods.

For the entire Year 2025, the average acquisition price for landlords was $226,241, drastically higher than the $94,850 average for Year 2024, indicating a sharp rise in per-property costs when transactions did occur.

Landlords captured a substantial share of the Q4 2025 SFR market in Perry County, purchasing 11 properties, which accounts for 34.4% of the total 32 SFR purchases made during the quarter.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were the exclusive players among investors in Q4, responsible for 100.0% of all landlord purchases, totaling 11 properties. Institutional investors (Tier 09) recorded no purchases in the quarter.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) dominated Q4 purchasing activity, acquiring 8 properties. Intriguingly, these 8 properties were purchased by 11 distinct entities, suggesting a higher number of new entrants or very specific acquisition patterns.

Small landlords (Tier 06-10) also contributed to Q4 activity, with a single entity purchasing 3 properties, representing 27.3% of all landlord acquisitions for the quarter.

The data underscores a highly fragmented and individual-driven investor market in Perry County, particularly for Q4, with smaller investors being the sole contributors to market share.

Mom-and-pop landlords, encompassing Tiers 01-04 (1-10 properties), collectively control an overwhelming 97.2% of all investor-owned SFR properties in Perry County, representing 683 out of 691 total properties.

The single-property landlord (Tier 01) segment forms the backbone of the investor market, owning 556 properties, which alone constitutes 79.1% of the entire investor-held SFR inventory.

In stark contrast to media narratives, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) maintain a negligible footprint in Perry County, holding just 1 property, which translates to a mere 0.1% of the total investor-owned SFR.

The distribution reveals a strong concentration at the lowest tiers, with the top three tiers (1, 2, and 3-5 properties) together accounting for 94.2% of investor-owned properties.

Mid-size landlords (Tiers 05-08) hold a combined 5.6% of investor-owned properties, further reinforcing the dominance of smaller-scale investors in this market.

The shift in ownership dynamics from individuals to companies occurs within the small landlord segment: individual investors dominate Tiers 01-05, but companies gain majority control starting at the 6-10 property tier (66.7% company-owned).

Individual investors exhibit strong concentration in the smallest tiers, owning 90.3% of properties in Tier 01 (single-property) and 82.0% in Tier 02 (two-property), confirming the 'mom-and-pop' nature of the majority of the market.

Company ownership dramatically escalates in the Small-medium (11-20 property) tier, where they own 93.3% of properties, signaling this as a critical point for corporate-scale investment in Perry County.

Even within the small landlord 3-5 property tier, individual investors still hold the majority at 57.4%, though company presence is notable at 42.6%.

The data illustrates a clear progression where smaller portfolios are almost exclusively individual-owned, but as portfolio size increases beyond 5 properties, companies rapidly become the dominant owner type.

Within Perry County, the zip code MS-Perry-39476 stands out as the primary hub for investor activity, boasting the highest count of investor-owned properties at 292, representing a 22.1% ownership rate.

MS-Perry-39462 exhibits the highest concentration of investor-owned housing by percentage, with 26.7% of its total SFR properties held by landlords, followed by MS-Perry-39425 at 23.6% and MS-Perry-39423 at 23.5%.

The top four sub-geographies by total investor-owned property count (MS-Perry-39476, 39423, 39462, 39425) are consistently among the areas with the highest investor ownership rates, indicating a strong correlation between high volume and high market penetration in these specific zip codes.

Conversely, MS-Perry-39465, while ranking 4th in investor-owned property count with 61 properties, shows a comparatively lower investor ownership rate of 13.6%, suggesting a larger overall SFR market in that area with less intensive landlord penetration.

The geographic data highlights a clear pattern of investor interest concentrated within a few key zip codes in Perry County, both in terms of sheer property volume and the percentage of the local market they command.

Landlords in Perry County are firmly in a net buyer position, acquiring significantly more properties than they sell: Year 2025 recorded 57 purchases against only 9 sales, resulting in a net gain of 48 properties.

This buying trend is consistent, with landlords also being net buyers in Q3 2025 (9 buys vs. 7 sells) and Year 2024 (45 buys vs. 9 sells), demonstrating sustained growth in their portfolios.

Institutional investors (1000+ tier) presented a neutral transaction profile in Year 2024, with 1 buy and 1 sell, suggesting a stable, rather than expansive or contractive, strategy for this specific tier.

The provided data lacks specifics on the percentage of buy/sell transactions occurring between landlords, or the average buy and sell prices for different timeframes, limiting insights into inter-landlord market liquidity and implied profit margins.

The robust buy/sell ratio, particularly over the last two years, signals a healthy and expanding investor market driven by acquisition rather than divestment for the overall landlord segment in Perry County.

Landlords in Perry County were active participants in the Q4 2025 market, contributing 14 transactions, which represents a substantial 32.6% share of the total 43 SFR transactions during the quarter.

All landlord transactions in Q4 were driven by mom-and-pop investors (Tier 01-04), totaling 14 transactions, whereas institutional investors (Tier 09) registered no transactions during this period.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, completing 11 transactions at an average purchase price of $229,174, indicating strong activity among new or very small-scale investors.

No transactions were recorded as being bought from other landlords (0.0% inter-landlord) for any tier, suggesting that landlords are primarily acquiring properties from non-landlord sellers in Q4.

The average purchase price for small landlords (Tier 06-10) in Q4 was not available, despite recording 3 transactions, indicating a data gap for this segment's pricing behavior.