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

Investors hold a significant 23.1% share of the single-family residential market in Lee County, controlling 4,830 of the 20,928 total SFR properties.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly characterized by individual ownership, with these 'mom-and-pop' landlords owning 4,150 properties (85.9%) compared to just 725 properties (15.0%) owned by companies.

This individual dominance is also reflected in the entity count, where 4,652 individual landlords far outnumber the 448 company landlords, highlighting a market built on small-scale investment.

A strong preference for all-cash ownership is evident, with 3,820 properties owned outright, compared to 1,010 that are financed. This indicates that a majority of investors operate with low leverage.

The portfolio is almost exclusively dedicated to rentals, as 4,689 properties (97.1% of the total investor portfolio) are non-owner-occupied, confirming a clear focus on generating rental income.

Investors in Lee County demonstrate a significant pricing advantage, purchasing homes in Q4 2025 for an average of $229,352, which is $142,003 less than the $371,355 paid by traditional homeowners.

This 38.2% discount represents a powerful market edge and a sharp increase from previous quarters, indicating a growing ability for investors to find undervalued properties.

The trend shows a consistently widening gap throughout 2025. The landlord discount grew from 18.9% ($64,755) in Q1, to 25.0% in Q2, 30.6% in Q3, and peaked at 38.2% in Q4.

While landlord acquisition prices have decreased quarterly through 2025, from $277,699 in Q1 to $229,352 in Q4, they remain well above the pandemic-era (2020-2023) average of $208,511.

This widening discount suggests that as the broader market softened for homeowners, investors capitalized by securing properties at increasingly favorable prices.

Investor activity accelerated in Q4, with landlords purchasing 58 of the 186 total SFR properties sold, claiming a substantial 31.2% of the market.

The market's growth is fueled by new and small-scale investors. Forty-three new single-property landlords entered the market, acquiring 28 properties and representing 45.2% of all landlord purchases.

Small 'mom-and-pop' landlords (Tiers 01-04) were responsible for 54 of the 58 investor acquisitions, a staggering 93.1% share of the activity, underscoring their critical role in the local market.

Institutional investors (1,000+ properties) were completely absent from the purchasing landscape in Q4, acquiring zero properties and highlighting a clear divergence from smaller players.

The data reveals a market defined by grassroots expansion, where the vast majority of new rental properties are being added by local, small-portfolio landlords rather than large corporations.

The structure of real estate investment in Lee County is definitively small-scale, with 'mom-and-pop' landlords (owning 1-10 properties) controlling 92.4% of the entire investor portfolio.

Single-property landlords form the bedrock of the market, alone accounting for 3,285 properties, which constitutes 65.2% of all investor-owned housing.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09) have a minimal presence, owning just 25 properties. Their 0.5% market share challenges the common narrative of large corporations dominating the SFR rental space.

The combined share of all mid-to-large investors (owning 11+ properties) is just 7.6%, further emphasizing the market's heavy reliance on small operators.

This distribution reveals a highly fragmented and accessible market where the barrier to entry is low, enabling thousands of individual investors to participate.

Individual investors form the foundation of the rental market, holding the majority of properties in every portfolio tier up to 20 units.

The transition to corporate dominance occurs specifically in the 21-50 property tier, where companies own 55 properties (52.4%) versus 50 properties (47.6%) for individuals.

Even at the smallest scale, companies maintain a foothold. They own 7.4% of single-property landlord portfolios and nearly 20% of two-property portfolios, indicating early-stage incorporation strategies.

The data illustrates a clear pattern: as portfolio size grows, so does the prevalence of company ownership, shifting from 30.4% in the 6-10 property tier to over 52% in the 21-50 tier.

This crossover point highlights that while individuals initiate and build most rental portfolios, scaling beyond 20 properties often involves a shift to a more formal corporate structure.

Investor ownership in Lee County is not evenly distributed but is instead highly concentrated in a few key areas. The top two zip codes, 27330 and 27332, contain a combined 4,616 properties, representing 95.6% of the entire investor portfolio.

Zip code 27330 is the definitive hub for real estate investment, with the highest count of investor-owned homes (2,985) and a significant market penetration rate of 23.8%.

While zip code 28355 technically has the highest ownership rate at 100%, this is a statistical anomaly based on a single property and does not reflect a broader market trend.

The regions with the most investor properties also boast high ownership rates, with the top four zip codes showing investor penetration between 19.6% and 23.8%.

This intense geographic clustering suggests that investors are targeting specific neighborhoods with desirable characteristics, creating pockets of high rental density within the county.

The investor market in Lee County is in a strong expansion phase, demonstrated by a buy-to-sell ratio of 5-to-1 in Q4 2025 (85 buys vs. 17 sells).

This aggressive acquisition strategy has been sustained throughout the year, with landlords achieving a net gain of 245 properties in 2025 and 266 properties in 2024.

A critical divergence appears at the institutional level. In 2024, the 1000+ tier investors were net sellers, with 1 purchase outnumbered by 2 sales, signaling a strategic retreat or portfolio rebalancing.

The steady transaction volume across 2025, with quarterly purchases consistently between 76 and 99, indicates a stable and confident market of buyers.

The data paints a clear picture of small and mid-size landlords actively growing their portfolios while the largest institutional players are taking a step back in Lee County.

Landlords represented a major force in the Q4 2025 housing market, participating in 85 of the 293 total transactions for a market share of 29.0%.

Activity was almost entirely driven by mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who conducted 74 of the 85 investor transactions, or 87.1% of the total.

Pricing strategies appear to vary by experience. New, single-property landlords paid the highest average price among active tiers ($200,895), while more established two-property landlords acquired assets for far less ($141,705).

A robust secondary market exists for established investors. Landlords in the 11-20 property tier sourced half (50.0%) of their new acquisitions from other landlords, the highest rate of any tier.

Confirming their inactivity, institutional investors (Tier 09) made zero transactions in Q4, ceding the entire quarter's activity to smaller, more nimble investors.