Carteret (NC) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investors hold a significant 36.5% share of the Single-Family Residential market in Carteret County, NC, controlling 11,558 properties out of a total of 31,699.

Individual investors are the definitive force in the market, owning 10,176 properties, which constitutes 88.0% of the entire investor portfolio, compared to 1,560 properties (13.5%) owned by companies.

Cash is the preferred method of ownership, with cash-owned properties (7,603) outnumbering financed ones (3,955) by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, indicating a well-capitalized investor base.

The rental focus of the portfolio is nearly absolute, with 11,452 of the 11,558 investor properties (99.1%) classified as rented, underscoring the market's role as a key source of rental housing.

The market is composed of 16,136 distinct landlord entities, with individual landlords (14,777) outnumbering company landlords (1,359) by more than 10-to-1, reinforcing the dominance of small-scale operators.

In a striking reversal of national trends, landlords in Carteret County, NC paid a substantial 39.0% premium over traditional homeowners in Q4 2025, with an average acquisition price of $679,655 compared to the homeowner average of $488,883.

This investor premium represents a massive price gap of $190,772 per property in Q4, indicating that investors are targeting a different, more expensive segment of the market than typical buyers.

The trend shows the landlord premium is not an anomaly but an accelerating pattern, widening each quarter from 20.8% in Q1 ($100,352 gap) to 30.6% in Q3 ($152,460 gap) and finally 39.0% in Q4.

Acquisition prices have risen sharply since the 2020-2023 period, with the average Q4 2025 landlord price of $679,655 representing a 31.9% increase over the pandemic-era average of $515,249.

This consistent and growing price premium suggests landlords are likely competing for desirable vacation or coastal properties where the rental income potential justifies paying significantly above the median home price.

Investor activity surged in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 132 of the 281 total SFR properties sold, capturing a dominant 47.0% of all market transactions.

The market's growth is fueled entirely by small investors, as mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were responsible for 133 purchases, or 98.5% of all landlord acquisitions in the quarter.

New entrants are a primary driver of activity, with 179 new single-property entities acquiring 115 homes, which alone accounts for 85.2% of all properties bought by investors in Q4.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09) had no presence in the Q4 market, making zero purchases and underscoring that Carteret County's investor landscape is exclusively shaped by smaller operators.

Mid-size landlords showed minimal activity, with only two entities in the 21-1000 property tiers making a purchase, reinforcing the market's bifurcation between new entrants and a dormant large-investor segment.

The investor market in Carteret County, NC is unequivocally dominated by small landlords, with those owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) controlling 98.8% of all investor-held SFRs.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the bedrock of the market, alone owning 9,906 properties, which represents 82.8% of the total investor portfolio.

The narrative of large-scale institutional ownership does not apply here; investors with over 1,000 properties (Tier 09) hold a mere 15 properties, a statistically insignificant 0.1% of the investor market.

Even mid-size landlords have a limited presence, with all tiers from 11 to 1,000 properties combined owning just 144 properties, or 1.2% of the total investor portfolio.

This extreme concentration in the hands of small landlords indicates a highly fragmented market driven by individual financial decisions rather than corporate acquisition strategies.

Individual investors form the foundation of the market, owning 89.7% of all single-property landlord portfolios (9,030 properties) and 82.6% of two-property portfolios (725 properties).

A clear transition to corporate ownership occurs as portfolios grow, with companies becoming the majority owner for the first time in the 6-10 property tier, where they hold 98 properties (53.3%).

This trend toward professionalization accelerates in larger tiers; companies own 59.6% of properties in the 11-20 tier and a commanding 95.0% in the 21-50 property tier.

Despite this shift in larger portfolios, the sheer volume of small-scale individual landlords means they still own the vast majority of properties overall, with 10,176 homes compared to 1,560 for companies.

The crossover point at 6 properties suggests that this is the scale at which the benefits of incorporation—such as liability protection and financial advantages—begin to outweigh the simplicity of individual ownership for local investors.

Investor activity in Carteret County, NC is not evenly distributed but is intensely focused on specific coastal zip codes, where investors own more than half the housing stock.

The zip code 28512 has the highest concentration of investors in the county, with an ownership rate of 58.6%, followed closely by 28594 at 56.6%.

The top five zip codes by investor ownership all have rates above 51%, including 28520 (53.7%), 28511 (52.8%), and 28553 (51.3%), indicating these are prime rental submarkets.

The largest volume of investor properties is in 28594, with 2,536 homes, demonstrating that areas with high ownership counts also tend to have the highest ownership rates.

This geographic concentration suggests that investor strategy is heavily influenced by proximity to amenities like beaches and tourist attractions, creating rental-dominated neighborhoods within the broader county.

Investors in Carteret County, NC demonstrated strong confidence in the market, acting as aggressive net buyers throughout 2025.

In Q4 2025, the net buying activity intensified, with landlords purchasing 206 properties while selling only 20, resulting in a powerful 10.3-to-1 buy-to-sell ratio and a net gain of 186 properties.

This pattern of accumulation was consistent across the entire year, with 820 properties purchased versus only 99 sold in 2025, for a net increase of 721 properties in landlord portfolios.

Transaction velocity remained robust and stable year-over-year, with 820 purchases in 2025 closely mirroring the 817 purchases made in 2024.

With no transaction data available for institutional investors, this accumulation is entirely driven by the small and mid-size landlords who dominate the local market.

Landlords played a central role in the Q4 2025 market, participating in 206 of the 464 total transactions, which translates to a 44.4% share of all activity.

An inverse relationship between investor size and purchase price is evident, as single-property landlords (Tier 01) paid the highest average price at $625,591 across 181 transactions.

In stark contrast, larger and presumably more experienced investors paid far less, with average prices dropping to $382,500 for the 3-5 property tier and as low as $166,500 for one large landlord purchase.

Inter-landlord trading is not a major source of inventory, as only 9.9% of properties purchased by single-property landlords (18 out of 181) were acquired from another investor.

The overwhelming majority of Q4 transactions were driven by mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who were responsible for 204 of the 206 total landlord transactions, while institutional investors made zero.