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

In Moore County, investors hold a significant 30.7% of the Single-Family Residential (SFR) market, totaling 12,207 properties out of 39,726 available. This demonstrates a substantial investor presence in the local housing landscape.

The investor market is overwhelmingly characterized by individual ownership. Individual landlords control 10,890 properties, which constitutes 89.2% of the entire investor portfolio, while companies own the remaining 1,470 properties (12.0%).

This individual dominance is even more pronounced when looking at entity counts, with 14,880 individual landlords compared to 1,042 company landlords. This 14-to-1 ratio underscores that the market is driven by a large number of small-scale investors rather than a few large corporations.

A strong majority of investor-owned properties (12,042 of 12,207, or 98.6%) are classified as non-owner-occupied, confirming the portfolio is almost entirely dedicated to providing rental housing to the community.

Cash is the preferred method of ownership, with 8,188 properties owned outright versus 4,019 that are financed. This preference for cash holdings (67.1% of the portfolio) suggests a financially stable and less leveraged investor base in Moore County.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Moore County secured a notable pricing advantage, paying an average of $509,952 per property. This was 4.8% less than the $535,862 paid by traditional homeowners, translating to a substantial average discount of $25,910 per home.

However, this investor discount has been shrinking throughout the year. The 4.8% gap in Q4 is considerably smaller than the 7.1% ($35,893) discount seen in Q3 and dramatically lower than the 19.1% ($100,051) advantage investors held in Q1 2025, signaling increased competition in the market.

The market has experienced significant price appreciation since the pandemic-era boom. The average Q4 2025 landlord acquisition price of $509,952 marks a 40.4% increase over the average price of $363,165 paid between 2020 and 2023.

Comparing year-over-year, landlord acquisition prices have risen from an average of $438,488 in 2024 to $470,293 for 2025 year-to-date, a 7.3% increase that reflects the ongoing strength of the local real estate market.

The consistent ability of landlords to purchase below the homeowner average across all quarters of 2025 points to sophisticated acquisition strategies, such as targeting properties in need of repair or off-market opportunities not typically pursued by traditional buyers.

Investor activity accounted for a significant portion of the Moore County housing market in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 136 of the 398 total SFRs sold, capturing a 34.2% market share.

The quarter was defined by the activity of small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) acquired 134 properties, making up a staggering 97.1% of all investor purchase activity.

New entrants flooded the market, with the single-property tier being the most active. In Q4, 117 properties (84.8% of all landlord purchases) were bought by 176 different entities, indicating a surge of first-time landlords.

In sharp contrast to the active small landlord segment, institutional investors with portfolios of 1,000 or more properties were completely inactive, making zero purchases during the quarter.

The purchasing activity was highly concentrated at the smallest end of the investor spectrum, with landlords in the top four tiers (1-10 properties) driving nearly all acquisitions, reinforcing the grassroots nature of Moore County's rental market.

The investor landscape in Moore County is overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, control a massive 97.5% of all investor-owned SFRs.

This market structure defies the narrative of corporate consolidation. Institutional investors (1,000+ properties) have a minimal footprint, owning a mere 10 properties, which accounts for just 0.1% of the investor-owned inventory.

The market's fragmentation is most evident in the single-property (Tier 01) category. These smallest investors collectively own 10,102 properties, representing 80.6% of the entire landlord portfolio, making first-time and single-home landlords the backbone of the rental market.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) also constitute a small fraction of the market, collectively owning just 313 properties, or 2.5% of the total. This further highlights the concentration of ownership among the smallest players.

The data clearly illustrates a market composed of thousands of local investors, where large-scale and institutional capital plays a statistically insignificant role in the ownership of single-family rental homes.

A distinct pattern emerges when analyzing ownership by entity type across portfolio sizes: individuals dominate smaller holdings, while companies control larger ones. For single-property portfolios, individuals own a commanding 92.5% of the homes (9,465 properties).

The transition to corporate ownership begins as portfolios scale. The crossover point occurs in the 6-10 property tier, where companies first become the majority owners, holding 53.7% of the properties in that segment.

This trend toward incorporation accelerates in larger tiers. For investors with 11-20 properties, company ownership increases to 62.8%, and in the 21-50 property tier, companies own a near-total 97.0% of the homes.

Even in the smallest tiers, companies maintain a foothold. They own 7.5% of single-property landlord homes and 10.7% of two-property portfolios, suggesting some investors choose to incorporate from their very first purchase.

This data illustrates a clear lifecycle for real estate investors in Moore County: starting as individuals and transitioning to a corporate structure for legal and financial purposes as their investment portfolio matures and expands.

Investor ownership in Moore County is not evenly distributed, with significant concentration in a few key areas. The zip codes 27376 and 28327 stand out, holding 2,219 and 1,924 investor-owned properties, respectively, making them the primary hubs of rental housing.

High investor ownership rates are a key feature of the local market. The 27376 zip code not only leads in property count but also has an investor ownership rate of 61.3%, indicating that a majority of SFRs there are rentals.

Several smaller zip codes exhibit near-total investor saturation. For instance, 27259 reports a 100.0% investor ownership rate, and 28350 has a rate of 92.9%, suggesting these areas may be dominated by vacation rentals or purpose-built rental communities.

The zip code 28327 shows high investor volume (1,924 properties) but a more moderate ownership rate of 26.4%, indicating it is a larger housing market with a mix of homeowners and renters.

This geographic analysis reveals distinct sub-markets within Moore County, some with deep investor penetration and others with a more traditional ownership mix, providing a granular view of where rental housing is most prevalent.

Landlords in Moore County are in a phase of aggressive portfolio expansion, consistently buying far more properties than they sell. In Q4 2025, they acquired 204 homes while selling only 36, resulting in a net gain of 168 properties and a powerful 5.7-to-1 buy/sell ratio.

This net buyer status has been a persistent trend throughout 2025. Across the full year, landlords purchased 923 properties and sold just 136, for a net increase of 787 properties in their collective portfolio.

The acquisition momentum has remained strong and steady, with landlords adding a net of 222 properties in Q3 and 212 in Q2, demonstrating a sustained appetite for local real estate assets.

Transaction volume in 2025 (923 purchases) has already surpassed the total for all of 2024 (790 purchases), signaling an acceleration of investor activity in the current year.

In stark contrast, institutional-grade investors (1,000+ properties) recorded zero buy or sell transactions in any recent timeframe, underscoring that all market dynamism is being driven by smaller, local landlords.

In Q4 2025, landlords were a major force in the Moore County market, participating in 204 of the 646 total SFR transactions, which represents a 31.6% share of all activity.

Transaction volume was heavily skewed towards the smallest investors. Landlords in the single-property tier were responsible for 176 of the 204 investor transactions (86.3%), showing that new and small-scale buyers are driving the market.

A clear pricing disparity exists between investor tiers. New single-property landlords paid the highest average price at $507,668, while larger landlords in the 101-1,000 property tier paid an average of only $214,456, suggesting different acquisition strategies and target asset types.

There is notable churn within the investor community. Among single-property landlords, 19 of their 176 purchases (10.8%) were sourced from other landlords. This inter-landlord activity was even higher for small landlords (3-5 properties), at 16.7%.

Institutional investors with 1,000+ properties were completely absent from the transactional market, recording zero transactions and reinforcing their lack of influence in Moore County's active real estate market.