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

In Duplin County, NC, investors hold a significant 33.0% of the single-family residential market, totaling 3,994 properties.

The market is characterized by individual ownership, with 3,615 properties (90.5%) held by individuals compared to just 410 (10.3%) by companies. This is further reflected in the landlord entity count, where 4,517 of the 4,847 total landlords are individuals.

Investor portfolios are heavily weighted towards cash acquisitions, with cash-owned properties (3,552) outnumbering financed ones (442) by a ratio of 8-to-1. This suggests a well-capitalized investor base less reliant on traditional lending.

Nearly the entire investor-owned portfolio is geared towards rentals, with 3,942 properties identified as rented, representing 98.7% of all holdings. This underscores the primary strategy of these landlords is generating rental income.

The data reveals a landscape dominated by small-scale operators, as the total number of landlords (4,847) exceeds the number of properties they own (3,994), pointing to a high prevalence of single-property owners, which is confirmed in tier analysis.

Investors in Duplin County demonstrated a powerful pricing advantage in Q4 2025, acquiring properties for an average of $176,673 while traditional homeowners paid $316,964. This represents a remarkable 44.3% discount, or a savings of $140,291 per property.

This price gap is not an anomaly but a consistent pattern throughout the year. In Q1, the discount reached its peak at 51.2% ($152,749), followed by 46.8% ($138,960) in Q3 and 31.2% ($85,245) in Q2, as shown in chart CH06-2.

The data reveals significant price appreciation in the market since the 2020-2023 period. The average landlord acquisition price then was $129,433, which has risen to an average of $165,816 in 2025.

The persistence of such a large discount quarter after quarter suggests that landlords in this market are effectively targeting undervalued assets, possibly through off-market deals, distressed sales, or other specialized acquisition channels not typically utilized by traditional homebuyers.

While acquisition volume in the provided pricing data is listed at zero for recent periods, transaction data confirms active purchasing, indicating investors are successfully executing this deep-discount strategy in the current market.

Landlords were a major force in the Duplin County market in Q4 2025, acquiring 29 of the 79 total SFR properties sold, which amounts to a 36.7% market share of all purchases.

The activity was overwhelmingly concentrated at the smallest end of the investor spectrum. New, single-property landlords (Tier 01) purchased 22 of the 29 properties, representing 73.3% of all investor acquisitions for the quarter.

This influx of new entrants is significant, with 31 new entities entering the market by purchasing their first investment property, as shown in chart CH07-1. This signals strong grassroots interest in Duplin County real estate.

Combined, mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were responsible for 27 of the 30 total investor-purchased properties, or 90.0% of the activity. Mid-size landlords (11-20 properties) accounted for the remaining 10.0%.

Institutional investors (1000+ properties) were completely absent from the purchasing landscape this quarter, acquiring zero properties. This reinforces that the market's growth is being driven by small, local investors rather than large corporations.

The ownership structure in Duplin County is overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, collectively own 98.1% of all investor-held SFRs.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) are the bedrock of the market, owning 3,317 properties, which accounts for 80.2% of the entire investor portfolio. This finding, visualized in chart CH08-1, counters any narrative of corporate dominance.

The next three tiers of small landlords—owning 2, 3-5, and 6-10 properties—add another 17.9% to the total, bringing the small investor share to its commanding 98.1% position.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a barely detectable presence, owning just 4 properties, or 0.1% of the investor-owned housing stock.

Even mid-size landlords are a small fraction of the market, with investors owning 11-100 properties collectively holding only 1.5% of the portfolio. This data paints a clear picture of a highly fragmented market composed almost entirely of small, local operators.

A clear pattern emerges when analyzing ownership type by portfolio size: individual ownership is the standard for smaller landlords, while company ownership increases with scale.

In the foundational single-property tier, individuals own 3,102 properties (92.7%) compared to just 243 (7.3%) for companies. This 12-to-1 ratio highlights that new and small investors are almost exclusively individuals.

The balance begins to shift as portfolios grow. In the 6-10 property tier, company ownership rises to 34.6%, and in the 11-20 property tier, it reaches 44.4%, as seen in chart CH09-1.

This trend suggests that as landlords scale their operations beyond a handful of properties, they are more likely to incorporate, likely for liability protection and financial management purposes.

Despite this scaling trend, individual investors still retain a majority stake even in the 11-20 property tier (55.6%), demonstrating their significant presence across the entire small-to-mid-size investor landscape in Duplin County.

Geographic analysis reveals specific pockets of high investor concentration within Duplin County. The zip codes of Wallace (28466) with 693 properties and Warsaw (28398) with 613 properties are the top two areas by sheer volume of investor-owned homes.

Following the leaders, Rose Hill (28458) with 500 properties and Kenansville (28349) with 450 properties also represent significant hubs of investor ownership, as detailed in chart CH10-1.

A critical distinction exists between high-volume areas and high-penetration areas. The 28325 zip code stands out with an extraordinary 85.4% of its SFR housing stock owned by investors, making it the most saturated market by rate.

Other zip codes with high investor ownership rates include 28341 (48.1%), 28453 (44.4%), and 28458 (40.3%). This demonstrates that some smaller communities have a much higher density of rental properties than larger ones.

The data for the 28393 zip code was not available, indicating a potential data gap for that specific area. However, the existing data clearly maps out the key sub-markets for real estate investment within the county.

Transaction data from Q4 2025 shows landlords in Duplin County are firmly in an accumulation phase. They collectively purchased 41 properties while selling only 7, resulting in a net gain of 34 properties and a strong buy-to-sell ratio of 5.86x.

This behavior is not a recent development but a consistent trend throughout 2025. Across the full year, investors bought 183 properties and sold just 32, a ratio of 5.72-to-1, signaling a long-term strategy of portfolio expansion.

The pace of acquisitions has been remarkably steady, with quarterly purchase volumes of 41 (Q4), 44 (Q3), and 46 (Q2), as shown in chart CH11-1a. This consistency points to a stable and confident investor market.

Dispositions (sales) have remained consistently low, with landlords selling only 7, 5, and 8 properties in Q4, Q3, and Q2 respectively. This low level of selling activity further reinforces the strategy of buying and holding properties for rental income.

Data for institutional (1000+ tier) transactions was not available, but given their minimal ownership stake, the overall market trend is definitively driven by the net-buying activity of smaller landlords.

In Q4 2025, landlords played a role in 41 of the 126 total SFR transactions in Duplin County, capturing a 32.5% share of all market activity.

First-time investors (Tier 01) drove the overwhelming majority of this activity, conducting 32 of the 41 landlord transactions. This highlights a market continually energized by new entrants.

A distinct pricing pattern emerged among tiers, with new, single-property landlords paying the highest average price at $157,351. In contrast, more experienced mid-size landlords in the 11-20 property tier paid significantly less, averaging just $78,667 per acquisition.

This price disparity suggests new investors may be paying a premium to enter the market, while larger operators are more adept at sourcing lower-cost properties.

Inter-landlord trading was relatively low for new buyers. Of the 32 properties purchased by Tier 01 landlords, only 6 (18.8%) were acquired from other investors. This indicates that the primary source of inventory for this growing segment is traditional homeowners.