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

Westchester County has a substantial investor presence, with 22,003 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties under landlord ownership, accounting for 14.1% of the total SFR market.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate this market, holding 19,490 properties (88.6% of the investor-owned portfolio), while company-owned properties comprise a smaller share at 3,082 (14.0%). This highlights the prevalence of mom-and-pop landlords.

The vast majority of landlord-owned properties are rented, totaling 21,738, which is 98.8% of the investor portfolio, underscoring a strong focus on rental income within the market.

Financing methods for landlord properties are almost equally divided, with 10,936 properties being financed and 11,067 acquired with cash, indicating a balanced approach to capital deployment.

The sheer number of individual landlords (32,211) vastly surpasses company landlords (3,003), establishing a robust 10.7:1 ratio that confirms the market's foundation in individual investment rather than large corporate entities.

Contrary to common trends, landlords in Westchester County consistently paid a premium over traditional homeowners for SFR properties; in Q4 2025, they paid $1,240,452 on average, a significant $305,463 (32.7%) more than homeowners' average of $934,989.

This landlord premium has fluctuated throughout 2025, peaking dramatically in Q2 at 51.4% ($480,406 higher than homeowners) before narrowing to 41.9% in Q3 and returning to 32.7% in Q4, a level similar to Q1, indicating dynamic market conditions.

Landlord acquisition prices show a substantial appreciation trend, rising by $253,965 (25.7%) from an average of $986,487 during the 2020-2023 period to $1,240,452 in Q4 2025, reflecting a strong increase in property values.

Overall landlord average acquisition prices for the entirety of 2025 ($1,336,980) were markedly higher than in 2024 ($1,215,946), signaling continued upward pressure on investor-held property values.

Despite the data in section6-1.csv showing 0 distinct SFR properties purchased by landlords across all listed timeframes, section7-1.csv reports 678 landlord purchases in Q4 2025, indicating a data discrepancy where the detailed acquisition price trends are presented without corresponding transaction volumes in this specific dataset.

Landlords were the primary drivers of the Westchester SFR market in Q4 2025, acquiring 678 properties, which represents a commanding 53.7% of the total 1,262 SFR purchases made in the quarter.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) spearheaded this activity, purchasing 649 properties, constituting 94.5% of all landlord acquisitions, demonstrating their disproportionate influence on the current quarter's buying trends.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) collectively accounted for 676 properties, an overwhelming 99.7% of all landlord purchases in Q4, solidifying their role as the backbone of investor activity.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09) had minimal activity, purchasing only 1 property (0.1% of landlord acquisitions), indicating their limited presence in recent market expansion.

While 1,100 entities were involved in Tier 01 purchases totaling 649 properties, this suggests a large number of individual investors participating in single-property acquisitions, with some entities potentially owning more properties across tiers.

Tier 01 (single-property) and Tier 02 (two-property) landlords show an interesting dynamic where the number of active entities (1,100 and 21 respectively) exceeds the number of properties purchased in their respective tiers (649 and 17), implying a broad base of smaller investors participating in the market.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) exert overwhelming control over Westchester's investor-owned SFR market, collectively owning 99.0% of all 22,003 properties.

The single-property landlord (Tier 01) segment is particularly dominant, holding 20,746 properties, which alone represents 93.1% of the entire investor-owned SFR portfolio.

In stark contrast to the mom-and-pop dominance, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a marginal 0.1% of the market, totaling just 31 properties, challenging perceptions of widespread corporate ownership in this county.

The ownership distribution reveals a sharply inverse relationship between portfolio size and market share; as portfolio size increases, the percentage of properties owned drastically decreases, with tiers above 10 properties collectively holding less than 1% of the market.

While Tier 01 accounts for 93.1% of all-time ownership, its Q4 purchase share was 94.5%, suggesting a consistent or even slightly increasing concentration of market activity among single-property landlords.

Detailed pricing data specific to each investor tier is not provided within this dataset, limiting a direct comparison of acquisition costs across different landlord sizes.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the entry-level segments of the market, controlling 88.3% of single-property (Tier 01) portfolios and 69.4% of two-property (Tier 02) portfolios.

A significant crossover point occurs between the 3-5 property tier (where individuals still hold 60.0%) and the 6-10 property tier, where companies become the majority owners, controlling 77.2% of properties.

Company concentration peaks in the small-medium (11-20 properties) tier, where they hold an impressive 92.6% of the portfolio, and remains high in the 21-50 property tier at 88.5%.

An anomaly in the typical trend emerges in the medium-large (51-100 properties) tier, where individual investors unexpectedly regain majority ownership, accounting for 76.3% of properties, despite companies dominating the immediately preceding smaller-medium tiers.

This suggests that while companies target specific mid-sized portfolio ranges for majority control, a significant number of larger portfolios within Westchester are still held by individual investors, challenging a monolithic view of corporate expansion in larger tiers.

The dataset does not provide information regarding acquisition prices or growth patterns specific to individual versus company owners within each tier, limiting deeper analysis into their differing investment strategies or market evolution.

Within Westchester County, investor-owned properties are heavily concentrated in specific zip codes; NY-Westchester-10583 leads by count with 1,222 investor-owned properties, followed by 10536 with 679 properties and 10538 with 534 properties.

Investor ownership rates reveal highly saturated markets in certain areas, with NY-Westchester-10526 exhibiting the highest percentage at 64.8% investor-owned, and 10518 and 10519 following closely with 62.1% and 60.7% respectively.

A significant divergence exists between regions with the highest number of investor-owned properties and those with the highest investor ownership rates; for instance, 10583, a top region by count, has a relatively moderate ownership rate of 12.2%, while 10526, with the highest rate, is not listed among the top 5 by count.

This indicates that high investor activity by volume does not necessarily equate to a high market penetration rate across all sub-geographies, suggesting varied market dynamics and investment opportunities.

The dataset does not include acquisition price data, total SFR inventory, or landlord entity counts for these specific sub-regions, limiting a more comprehensive geographic market analysis.

Landlords in Westchester County are consistent and aggressive net buyers of SFR properties, demonstrated by a robust 24.96x buy/sell ratio in Q4 2025 (1,148 buys vs 46 sells), resulting in a net portfolio increase of 1,102 properties.

This strong buying momentum is not an isolated event; landlords maintained high buy/sell ratios throughout 2025 (27.01x, 5,457 buys vs 202 sells) and 2024 (28.68x, 6,137 buys vs 214 sells), signaling sustained confidence and expansion in the market.

In stark contrast to the overall landlord trend, institutional investors (1000+ tier) exhibit a trend of divestment or stabilization; they were net sellers in 2024 (6 buys vs 13 sells) and maintained a neutral position in 2025 (7 buys vs 7 sells).

This divergence highlights two distinct investment strategies within the market: widespread accumulation by smaller landlords versus a more cautious or even retracting stance from institutional players.

The dataset does not provide information on the percentage of buy or sell transactions involving other landlords, nor does it detail average buy versus sell prices, limiting insights into inter-landlord trading and implied profit margins.

Landlords were a dominant force in Westchester's Q4 2025 market, participating in 1,148 transactions, which constitutes 53.6% of the total 2,141 SFR transactions recorded.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were exceptionally active, driving 1,102 transactions, representing a commanding 96.0% of all landlord transaction volume in the quarter, far outpacing larger investor segments.

A significant price disparity exists across investor tiers; single-property landlords (Tier 01) paid the highest average purchase price at $1,181,421, while institutional investors (Tier 09) secured properties at a considerably lower average of $563,022, representing a 52.3% discount.

This wide price spread highlights differing acquisition strategies, with smaller, individual buyers potentially prioritizing specific properties at higher costs, while larger entities focus on value or bulk acquisitions.

Inter-landlord trading activity was notably low across all tiers in Q4; Tier 02 had the highest percentage at 8.0% (2 transactions bought from other landlords), while Tier 01 saw 2.5% (27 transactions), indicating that most transactions involved non-landlord sellers.

The dominance of single-property landlords in Q4 transactions (96.0%) closely mirrors their overall market ownership (93.1%), reinforcing their foundational role in both existing inventory and current market activity.