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

Landlords in Queens, NY currently own 30,277 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, accounting for 20.5% of the total 147,447 SFR properties in the market. This significant market penetration highlights the substantial role investors play in the local housing landscape.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord-owned SFR market in Queens, holding 26,188 properties which represents 86.5% of the total investor portfolio. Companies, in contrast, own 4,438 properties, comprising a smaller 14.7% share, revealing a market largely driven by smaller-scale, individual proprietors.

The portfolio's property type composition underscores a strong rental market focus, with 30,075 properties identified as rented, nearly all of the investor-owned inventory. This indicates that landlord acquisitions are overwhelmingly for rental income rather than other uses.

Financed properties constitute a substantial portion of landlord holdings, with 20,977 properties carrying financing. This is significantly more than the 9,300 properties acquired via cash, suggesting that leveraging is a common strategy among Queens' landlords to expand their portfolios.

By entity count, individual landlords far outnumber companies, with 41,274 individual landlords compared to 5,681 company landlords. This 7.26:1 ratio of individual to company entities reinforces the prevalence of mom-and-pop operations in the Queens rental market, aligning with the property ownership distribution.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Queens, NY acquired properties at an average price of $910,175, securing a $14,343 discount compared to traditional homeowners who paid $924,518. This represents a 1.6% price advantage for landlords in the most recent quarter.

The landlord discount has shown volatility throughout 2025, narrowing significantly from a 4.2% advantage in Q1 ($38,025 discount) to 1.6% in Q4. This trend suggests a diminishing gap between investor and homeowner purchasing power, potentially reflecting increased competition or shifting market dynamics within Queens.

Overall landlord acquisition prices in Queens have shown appreciation over time, with the average price in Year 2025 reaching $911,095, an increase of 10.6% ($87,228) from the 2020-2023 pandemic-era average of $823,867. This sustained growth signals a robust market for investor acquisitions.

Comparing annual trends, the average landlord acquisition price in Year 2025 ($911,095) surpassed that of Year 2024 ($883,539) by $27,556, or 3.1%. This consistent year-over-year increase indicates ongoing upward pressure on SFR property values in Queens.

Despite fluctuating quarterly discounts, the consistent price appreciation suggests that landlords are navigating a competitive market effectively, continuing to make strategic acquisitions that align with long-term value growth, albeit with reduced immediate savings compared to earlier in the year.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Queens, NY were highly active, acquiring 565 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties. This represents a substantial 37.9% of all 1,489 SFR purchases made in the quarter, highlighting investors' significant influence on the housing market.

The vast majority of this quarter's landlord purchasing activity came from mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04), who together purchased 567 properties, comprising an overwhelming 99.5% of all landlord acquisitions. This underscores the fragmented nature of the investor market in Queens.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most dominant segment, purchasing 525 properties, which alone accounts for 92.1% of all landlord purchases in Q4. This indicates a strong influx of new or small-scale investors into the market.

A significant number of entities were active in Q4, with 779 entities associated with Tier 01 purchases. While the exact count of new, single-property landlords is intricate, this figure points to broad participation from individual investors entering or expanding their portfolios at the foundational level.

In stark contrast to mom-and-pop activity, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) made only 1 purchase in Q4, representing a mere 0.2% of landlord acquisitions. This minimal activity suggests a cautious or retreating stance from large-scale entities in the Queens market.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), encompassing those owning 1 to 10 properties, collectively control a dominant 99.8% of all investor-owned Single Family Residential (SFR) properties in Queens, NY. This highlights the foundational role of small-scale investors in the local market structure.

The largest segment within the mom-and-pop category is single-property landlords (Tier 01), who own 29,088 properties, accounting for an astounding 95.0% of the entire investor-owned SFR portfolio. This concentration underscores the prevalence of first-time or very small-scale landlords.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09), defined as owning 1000+ properties, hold a negligible 0.1% of the investor-owned market, totaling just 17 properties. This challenges narratives of institutional dominance in the Queens SFR sector.

A notable price disparity exists between investor tiers: single-property landlords (Tier 01) paid an average of $903,820 for their Q4 acquisitions, while institutional investors (Tier 09) secured properties at a significantly lower average of $534,581. This means institutional buyers paid $369,239 (40.9%) less per property compared to mom-and-pop single-property buyers.

The distribution of ownership indicates a highly fragmented market structure, with the vast majority of properties dispersed among numerous small investors. This pattern suggests that market entry barriers remain relatively low for individuals, fostering widespread participation rather than consolidation among large entities.

The ownership landscape in Queens, NY demonstrates a distinct crossover point where company ownership surpasses individual ownership as portfolio size increases. While individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smaller tiers, companies consolidate their presence in mid-size portfolios.

Individual investors lead significantly in the foundational tiers: they comprise 86.4% of single-property (Tier 01) owners with 25,415 properties, and maintain a 74.0% share in the two-property (Tier 02) segment. This confirms the strong prevalence of individual mom-and-pop operations at the entry level.

The shift towards company-dominated ownership begins between the 3-5 and 6-10 property tiers. While individuals still hold 70.2% of properties in the 3-5 tier, companies become the majority in the 6-10 property tier, owning 56 properties (80.0%) compared to 14 properties by individuals.

This trend continues into the small-medium (11-20) tier, where company ownership further solidifies, holding 15 properties (65.2%) against 8 properties (34.8%) owned by individuals. This pattern indicates that as landlords scale beyond a handful of properties, they increasingly adopt corporate structures for their investments.

The data suggests a strategic evolution: individual investors typically start small, accumulating a few properties, but significant portfolio expansion appears to correlate with the transition to company ownership, which may offer advantages in financing, management, or liability for larger operations in Queens.

Investor-owned properties in Queens, NY show clear geographic concentration within specific zip codes. The top five zip codes by count of landlord-owned properties are 11357 (1,377 properties), 11413 (1,211 properties), 11434 (1,175 properties), 11412 (1,159 properties), and 11420 (1,105 properties).

These top-performing zip codes, such as 11357 and 11434, also exhibit high investor ownership rates of 21.0% and 21.4% respectively. This indicates areas where a substantial portion of the SFR housing stock is controlled by landlords, reflecting strong investor interest and market penetration.

Conversely, some zip codes like 11217, 11580, and 11697 display extreme investor ownership rates of 100.0%. While statistically high, these often correspond to very small or specialized housing markets where investors may own all available SFRs, rather than large-scale investment hotbeds.

The combination of high property counts and significant ownership rates in zip codes like 11357, 11413, and 11434 suggests these areas are key hubs for real estate investment in Queens. Investors are not just present, but have accumulated substantial portfolios within these specific communities.

Understanding these geographic patterns is crucial for targeting specific markets in Queens. Areas with high property counts signal liquid markets with consistent investor activity, while those with very high percentages, even if counts are not provided, might indicate saturated niche markets or unique property types where almost all SFR is investor-controlled.

Landlords in Queens, NY are actively expanding their portfolios, consistently acting as strong net buyers across all observed timeframes. In Q4 2025 alone, they bought 839 properties while selling only 66, resulting in an impressive buy-to-sell ratio of 12.71x, signifying robust accumulation.

This aggressive buying trend is not limited to the recent quarter; for the full Year 2025, landlords acquired 3,152 properties and sold 257, maintaining a net buyer position with a 12.26x ratio. This sustained activity underscores a long-term strategy of growth and expansion within the Queens market.

Institutional investors (1000+ properties), however, present a more nuanced picture. While they were net buyers for the full Year 2025 (4 buys vs 3 sells) and Year 2024 (10 buys vs 5 sells), Q3 2025 saw them as net sellers (1 buy vs 2 sells). This indicates a cautious or potentially divesting approach from larger entities in the latest granular period.

The overall market liquidity for landlords remains high, with thousands of properties changing hands annually. The consistently high buy/sell ratios for all landlords suggest that many investors are holding onto their assets, with sales representing only a small fraction of their acquisition activity.

The contrasting behavior between all landlords (predominantly mom-and-pop) and institutional investors reveals distinct market strategies. While small-scale investors are consistently accumulating, larger institutions appear to be more selective, potentially offloading assets in specific market conditions or rebalancing portfolios.

In Q4 2025, landlords played a substantial role in the Queens, NY housing market, participating in 839 transactions, which represents 34.8% of the total 2,410 SFR transactions. This confirms their significant influence on market liquidity and property turnover.

Transaction volumes varied across investor tiers, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) driving the majority of activity, engaging in 781 transactions. This highlights their continuous and strong presence in the market, far surpassing larger investor tiers in terms of sheer transaction count.

A notable pattern emerges in average purchase prices by tier: single-property landlords (Tier 01) paid the highest average price at $903,820, while larger landlords in the 6-10 property tier acquired properties for $530,912, and institutional investors (Tier 09) paid $534,581. This indicates larger investors secure significantly lower prices, suggesting superior bargaining power or access to different property types.

The price difference between the highest-paying (Tier 01) and lowest-paying (Tier 06-10) investor tiers reached $372,908. Specifically, institutional investors (Tier 09) paid $369,239 (40.9%) less than single-property landlords for their Q4 acquisitions, revealing a substantial pricing advantage for larger-scale operations.

Inter-landlord trading activity was relatively low overall, but most prominent among small landlords (Tier 03-05), where 10.5% of their 19 transactions were purchases from other landlords. This suggests a niche internal market for small portfolio rebalancing, which was absent among larger tiers in Q4.

The distribution of transaction activity in Q4 closely mirrors the existing ownership distribution, with mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) collectively accounting for 835 transactions. This consistent dominance reinforces their foundational role in both owning and actively trading properties in Queens.

The minimal transaction activity from institutional investors (only 1 transaction) compared to their current ownership (17 properties) further supports the notion of their limited and selective engagement in the Queens market during this quarter.