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

Investor ownership is highly concentrated in Jones County, with landlords holding 1,199 single-family residential properties, which constitutes a substantial 36.8% of the total 3,258 SFRs in the market.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly characterized by individual ownership. Individuals own 1,079 properties, a commanding 90.0% share, compared to the 132 properties (11.0%) owned by companies, challenging the narrative of corporate dominance in the rental market.

A striking 92.1% of all investor-owned properties (1,103 out of 1,199) are held free and clear with cash, compared to just 8.0% (96 properties) that are financed. This indicates a well-capitalized investor base with low leverage.

The primary strategy for investors in this market is providing rental housing, as demonstrated by the 1,168 rented properties, which account for 97.4% of the entire investor-owned portfolio.

The market structure consists of 1,261 distinct landlord entities. Mirroring the property ownership split, the vast majority are individuals (1,157), while only 104 are registered as companies, showing that the average company portfolio is slightly larger than the average individual's.

Investors in Jones County demonstrated an exceptional ability to acquire properties at a deep discount in Q4 2025. Landlords paid an average price of $110,000, which is $178,425 less than the $288,425 paid by traditional homeowners—a remarkable 61.9% price advantage.

The price gap between landlords and homeowners has shown extreme volatility, widening significantly from an 18.1% discount in Q3 to 61.9% in Q4. This indicates a strategic shift towards purchasing more distressed or lower-value properties as the year concluded.

Landlord acquisition prices have been trending downwards throughout the year. The Q4 average of $110,000 is a sharp decrease from Q3 ($180,597) and Q2 ($217,612), suggesting a cooling in the type of assets investors are targeting, even as overall market prices remain higher for homeowners.

Compared to the pandemic-era boom years (2020-2023), when the average landlord acquisition price was $152,256, the current Q4 price of $110,000 represents a 27.8% decrease, signaling a clear shift in buying strategy or market opportunities.

While no properties were recorded as purchased in Q4, the average price reflects a small number of transactions. This deep discount suggests landlords are adept at finding off-market deals or properties that require significant renovation, which are typically priced lower than market-ready homes sought by traditional buyers.

Investor purchasing activity was a major force in the Jones County market during Q4 2025, with landlords acquiring 6 of the 15 total SFRs sold, a commanding 40.0% market share.

The entirety of this purchasing activity was driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) accounted for 100% of the 6 properties bought by investors, while institutional investors (Tier 09) made no acquisitions.

The market continues to attract new entrants. The single-property tier was the most active, with 7 new landlord entities acquiring 5 properties, representing 83.3% of all investor purchases for the quarter.

This quarter's activity reinforces the dominance of small landlords, with only two tiers showing any buying activity: the single-property tier (5 properties) and the two-property tier (1 property).

The data signals a healthy and growing small-investor ecosystem, where new landlords are actively entering the market, rather than a consolidation of properties by large-scale entities.

The investor ownership landscape in Jones County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale landlords. Mom-and-pop investors, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, control a massive 95.4% of all investor-owned SFRs.

In stark contrast to narratives of institutional takeover, large-scale institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a minimal footprint, holding only 7 properties, which translates to just 0.6% of the investor market share.

The market's foundation rests on its smallest participants. Landlords owning a single property (Tier 01) represent the largest segment by far, holding 917 properties, or 74.4% of the entire investor-owned housing stock.

Mid-size landlords (11-1000 properties) also constitute a small fraction of the market. Tiers 05 through 08 collectively own just 50 properties, a combined share of only 4.1%.

This distribution reveals a highly fragmented and decentralized rental market, where the decisions and activities of thousands of small, local investors—not a handful of large corporations—shape the housing landscape for renters.

While individual investors dominate the overall market, a clear pattern emerges as portfolio sizes increase: ownership professionalizes through company formation. The crossover point occurs in the 6-10 property tier, where companies own 5 properties (71.4%), surpassing individuals.

In the entry-level tiers, individual ownership is nearly absolute. Individuals own 92.6% of single-property portfolios, 85.9% of two-property portfolios, and 91.5% of 3-5 property portfolios, underscoring their role in the small-scale rental market.

The data suggests a strategic threshold around 6 properties, where the benefits of a corporate structure—such as liability protection and financial advantages—likely prompt investors to formally incorporate their holdings.

Even in the small-medium tier (11-20 properties), ownership is more balanced, with individuals still holding a majority at 26 properties (56.5%) compared to companies with 20 properties (43.5%).

This tiered analysis reveals a natural progression in investor behavior, from personal holdings for smaller landlords to formalized company structures for those managing larger and more complex portfolios.

Investor activity in Jones County is not evenly distributed but is instead focused in specific geographic pockets. The top five zip codes by investor-owned property count contain 1,116 homes, which is 93.1% of the entire investor portfolio in the county.

Certain areas exhibit extreme levels of investor penetration. Zip code 28522 stands out with a 100.0% investor ownership rate, indicating it is entirely composed of rental or non-owner-occupied properties.

The zip code 28585 leads by volume, with 455 investor-owned properties, though its ownership rate is a more moderate 36.1%. This contrasts with areas that have fewer properties but higher saturation.

Several zip codes appear on both the top-count and top-percentage lists, signaling them as epicenters of investor activity. Notably, 28555, 28573, and 28501 are in the top five for both metrics, highlighting their importance to the local rental market.

This geographic concentration suggests that investors are targeting specific neighborhoods, likely driven by factors such as affordability, rental demand, or local economic conditions, creating distinct rental-heavy submarkets within the county.

Investors in Jones County are in a strong accumulation phase, consistently buying more properties than they sell. For the full year of 2025, landlords were powerful net buyers, with 46 purchases against only 10 sales, a buy-to-sell ratio of 4.6-to-1.

This net buying behavior was not a one-time event but a sustained trend across the year. The net gain of properties was +6 in Q4, +16 in Q3, and +4 in Q2, demonstrating persistent demand from investors.

Transaction volume in 2025 (46 buys) was nearly identical to 2024 (45 buys), indicating stable and ongoing acquisition pressure in the market despite changing economic conditions.

The data shows no buying or selling activity from institutional-grade investors (1000+ tier) in any recent period. This absence confirms that the net accumulation of housing is entirely attributable to the activity of small and mid-size landlords.

The consistent net positive acquisition trend signals strong confidence among local investors in the Jones County rental market and its potential for future returns.

In Q4 2025, landlords were a significant driver of market liquidity, participating in 8 of the 26 total SFR transactions, which represents a 30.8% share of all transaction activity.

The transaction market was exclusively powered by small investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were responsible for 100% of the 8 investor-involved transactions, with 7 completed by single-property landlords and 1 by a two-property landlord.

An active inter-landlord market exists, with 25% of investor purchases (2 out of 8) being acquired from fellow landlords. This activity was particularly concentrated in the two-property tier, where 100% of its single transaction was a landlord-to-landlord deal.

A price difference emerged between the most active tiers. Single-property landlords paid an average of $115,000 per property, while the two-property landlord paid a lower average of $80,000, suggesting different acquisition strategies or asset targets.

With zero transactions recorded for institutional investors, the Q4 data reaffirms that the transactional pulse of the Jones County investment market is dictated by the buying and selling decisions of its smallest participants.