Cattaraugus (NY) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Cattaraugus County, NY, collectively own 5,597 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, which constitutes 24.4% of the total 22,899 SFR properties in the market.

Individual landlords are the overwhelming majority, owning 5,037 SFR properties (90.0%) compared to companies which own 673 properties (12.0%).

The ownership structure is heavily skewed towards individual landlords, representing 5,960 entities (90.6%) out of 6,577 total landlords, indicating that Cattaraugus is primarily a market of small-scale individual investors.

An impressive 99.0% of landlord-owned properties are rented (5,542 out of 5,597), highlighting that the vast majority of investor holdings are actively generating rental income rather than being held for other purposes.

Cash acquisitions significantly outnumber financed purchases, with 4,338 properties (77.5%) acquired through cash compared to only 1,259 properties (22.5%) being financed, suggesting a preference for unencumbered assets or a market where cash buyers have an advantage.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Cattaraugus County paid an average acquisition price of $228,385, which is a significant $43,625 or 23.6% premium compared to the $184,760 average paid by traditional homeowners.

This landlord premium has been a consistent pattern throughout 2025, reaching as high as $72,270 (50.6%) in Q1, $45,577 (28.3%) in Q2, and $65,938 (39.7%) in Q3, demonstrating a persistent willingness by landlords to pay above market rates compared to homeowners.

While specific acquisition counts for landlords by timeframe were not comprehensively reported in section6-1.csv, the existence of these quarterly average prices in section6-2.csv confirms ongoing landlord purchasing activity.

The year-over-year data indicates varied pricing, with the average landlord acquisition price in Year 2025 at $219,158, slightly higher than the $206,756 average for Year 2024, implying a modest increase in acquisition costs.

The consistent premium paid by landlords over traditional homeowners in Cattaraugus County challenges the typical narrative of investors securing discounts, suggesting competitive bidding or strategic acquisitions of specific property types.

In Q4 2025, landlords accounted for a substantial 33.6% of all SFR purchases in Cattaraugus County, acquiring 37 out of 110 total transactions.

The entirety of this Q4 landlord purchasing activity (100.0%) was driven by mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), with no institutional investors (Tier 09) making any acquisitions.

New single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active segment, responsible for 36 (97.3%) of the Q4 landlord purchases, involving 54 distinct entities, suggesting a surge of new, small-scale investors entering the market.

Small landlords (Tiers 03-05) showed minimal purchasing activity, contributing only 1 property (2.7%) to the Q4 total, indicating a strong focus on initial entry or minimal expansion.

The high percentage of Tier 01 purchases by a greater number of entities (54 entities for 36 properties) suggests that many new landlords are acquiring their first single property within this quarter.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) collectively control 100.0% of all 5,597 investor-owned SFR properties in Cattaraugus County, fundamentally defining the market structure.

The dominance of small-scale investors is absolute, with Single-property landlords (Tier 01) holding the vast majority at 4,884 properties (86.0% of the total investor-owned portfolio).

This market notably lacks any institutional investor presence, with Tier 09 (1000+ properties) holding 0.0% of investor-owned properties, and even mid-size landlords (Tiers 05-08) representing a negligible share.

The combined share of Tiers 01-04 (1-10 properties) accounts for all 5,597 investor-owned properties, showcasing a complete absence of larger portfolio investors beyond this scale.

The distribution reveals a deeply localized and accessible market, where small independent investors are the sole drivers of rental housing provision.

Individual investors maintain a significant majority across all investor tiers in Cattaraugus County, from single-property owners to larger small landlord portfolios, indicating no crossover point where companies become the dominant owner type.

In the Single-property tier (Tier 01), individuals own 4,493 properties (90.3%) compared to companies owning only 485 properties (9.7%), solidifying individual investors as the foundational element of the market.

Even in the relatively larger small-medium tiers like 21-50 properties, individual ownership remains robust at 71.4% (25 properties) versus company ownership at 28.6% (10 properties).

The highest concentration of company ownership within any single tier is 28.6% in the Small-medium (21-50) tier, which is still a clear minority, underscoring the pervasive individual ownership model in this county.

This persistent individual dominance across all tiers signifies a market structure that is less influenced by corporate investment strategies and more reliant on individual capital and management.

Investor-owned properties are highly concentrated in specific zip codes within Cattaraugus County, with NY-Cattaraugus-14731 leading significantly with 1,451 landlord-owned properties, contributing substantially to the county's total.

Another notable concentration exists in NY-Cattaraugus-14706 and NY-Cattaraugus-14101, with 226 and 219 investor-owned properties respectively, showcasing diverse areas of landlord interest.

Several zip codes either show no reported investor-owned properties or have incomplete data ('nan' values), suggesting highly localized market dynamics or data collection variations within the county.

An exceptionally high investor ownership rate of 100.0% in NY-Cattaraugus-14133 indicates a completely landlord-dominated sub-market, where every SFR property is investor-owned.

The contrast between areas with high property counts and high ownership rates suggests that while some regions simply have more total SFR properties with investor interest, others are almost exclusively investor-driven, regardless of overall property volume.

Landlords in Cattaraugus County are exceptionally strong net buyers, demonstrated by an 11.2x buy/sell ratio in Q4 2025, with 56 properties purchased versus only 5 sold.

This aggressive net buying trend is consistent historically, with a year-to-date buy/sell ratio of 8.21x in 2025 (427 buys vs. 52 sells) and an even higher 11.36x in 2024 (568 buys vs. 50 sells), indicating sustained portfolio growth over time.

The high buy-to-sell ratios suggest a market where landlords are actively expanding their holdings and retaining properties, rather than frequently trading them, reflecting long-term investment strategies.

Institutional investors (1000+ tier) show negligible activity, with only 1 buy and 1 sell reported for Year 2024, indicating a neutral net position and minimal impact on the local transaction landscape.

The consistency of high buy-to-sell ratios across recent timeframes signals a robust and stable demand from landlords to acquire more SFR properties within Cattaraugus County.

In Q4 2025, landlords were significant players in the Cattaraugus housing market, accounting for 56 (32.2%) of the total 174 SFR transactions.

All landlord transactions in Q4 were exclusively attributed to mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), with no transaction activity from institutional investors (Tier 09), mirroring the overall ownership distribution.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) dominated transaction volume, with 54 reported transactions at an average purchase price of $242,083, which is a considerable investment for individual property acquisitions.

The small landlord tier (3-5 properties) saw minimal activity, with only 2 transactions at a much lower average price of $64,000, suggesting highly varied property types or market niches across different small investor segments.

Tier 01 landlords sourced 9 of their 54 transactions (16.7%) from other landlords, indicating some level of inter-landlord trading within the most active segment of the market.