Benton (OR) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Benton County, OR, collectively own 4,418 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, representing 20.5% of the county's total SFR market. This highlights a notable segment of the housing stock dedicated to rental income.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord landscape, owning 3,692 SFR properties, which constitutes 83.6% of all investor-owned SFR. In contrast, company-owned SFR properties total 949, representing a 21.5% share of investor holdings.

The prevalence of individual landlords is further evident in entity counts, with 5,117 individual landlords compared to 888 company landlords, making individuals 85.2% of all 6,005 landlords in the county.

The vast majority of investor-owned properties, 4,317 out of 4,418 (97.7%), are currently rented. This signals a strong rental-focused investment strategy and underscores the critical role landlords play in providing housing for non-owners in Benton County.

Investor financing patterns reveal a slight preference for cash acquisitions, with 2,328 properties purchased entirely with cash, modestly exceeding the 2,090 properties that are currently financed by landlords. This indicates significant capital deployment in the local market.

Landlords in Benton County demonstrated superior market acumen in Q4 2025, securing properties at an average price of $518,333. This represents a substantial $58,854 discount, or 10.2% less, than the $577,187 paid by traditional homeowners.

The landlord discount has shown considerable volatility quarter-over-quarter in 2025. Starting strong at 9.6% ($56,105) in Q1, it dipped to 6.6% ($41,472) in Q2 and further to 3.6% ($21,980) in Q3, before rebounding sharply to 10.2% in Q4.

Despite quarterly fluctuations, landlords consistently paid less than traditional homeowners across all quarters of 2025, underlining a persistent advantage in acquisition strategy or market access. The average landlord price for the full year 2025 was $559,379.

The average acquisition price for landlords has notably appreciated from the pandemic-era. Properties acquired between 2020 and 2023 averaged $461,485, indicating a significant price increase to the 2025 average of $559,379, reflecting broader market appreciation.

The magnitude of the Q4 2025 discount, at $58,854 per property, signifies a critical window for landlords to acquire assets at a substantial advantage. This specific discount percentage and dollar value highlight the effectiveness of their buying strategies in the current market.

Landlords in Benton County were active participants in the Q4 2025 market, completing 38 SFR purchases. This accounts for a significant 23.6% share of the total 161 SFR properties bought during the quarter, indicating a robust investor appetite.

The Q4 purchasing landscape was overwhelmingly dominated by mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who were responsible for 37 (94.9%) of all landlord acquisitions. This highlights the foundational role of smaller investors in the local market's dynamics.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were particularly active, acquiring 27 properties. Notably, 44 distinct entities classified as single-property landlords were engaged in Q4 purchases, suggesting a healthy influx of new or expanding small-scale investors.

In stark contrast to the mom-and-pop activity, institutional investors (1000+ properties, Tier 09) made no SFR purchases in Benton County during Q4 2025. This underscores their complete absence from the local acquisition landscape.

Beyond single-property owners, smaller landlords in the 6-10 property tier also showed significant activity, acquiring 6 properties (15.4% of landlord purchases) through 5 entities, demonstrating continued growth among slightly larger mom-and-pop portfolios.

The investor-owned SFR market in Benton County is overwhelmingly dominated by mom-and-pop landlords, with Tiers 01-04 (1-10 properties) controlling a commanding 98.2% of all investor-owned properties. This distribution challenges common narratives of corporate takeover in local housing markets.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the backbone of this market, holding 3,440 properties, which alone represents 73.7% of the total investor-owned SFR. This highlights the prevalence of first-time or small-scale investors in the county.

Further reinforcing the mom-and-pop dominance, two-property landlords (Tier 02) own 464 properties (9.9%), and small landlords (3-5 properties, Tier 03-05) collectively hold 530 properties (11.4%), solidifying their extensive market share.

The complete absence of institutional investors (1000+ properties, Tier 09) is a defining characteristic of Benton County's market, as they control 0.0% of investor-owned SFR. This suggests a market less attractive or accessible to large-scale corporate entities.

Even mid-size landlord tiers (11-1000 properties, Tiers 05-08) account for a marginal share, with Tiers 05-08 collectively holding only 1.8% of the market, underscoring the strong concentration among smaller investors.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smaller end of the landlord spectrum in Benton County, holding 3,008 single-property (Tier 01) SFR portfolios, representing 83.6% of this tier. This demonstrates the strong individual entrepreneurship in the market.

As portfolio size increases, company ownership begins to rise, notably in the two-property tier (Tier 02), where companies hold 138 properties (28.8%) compared to individuals' 341 properties (71.2%).

The crossover point where companies become the majority owners occurs in the small-medium landlord tier (11-20 properties). Here, companies own 28 properties (75.7%), significantly outpacing the 9 properties (24.3%) held by individual investors in this size segment.

A unique pattern emerges in Benton County, as individual investors surprisingly regain majority control in the next tier (21-50 properties), holding 14 properties (60.9%) compared to companies' 9 properties (39.1%). This suggests a nuanced landscape where individual operators can scale significantly.

The largest institutional tier (1000+ properties) shows no presence of either individual or company ownership in Benton County, reinforcing the local market's predominantly small-to-medium scale investor base.

Investor-owned SFR properties in Benton County are highly concentrated in specific geographic pockets. The 97330 zip code stands out with the highest number of investor-owned properties at 2,218, representing 21.5% of its total SFR market.

Following closely, the 97333 zip code is home to 1,097 investor-owned properties, comprising 24.0% of its SFR stock. Combined, these two zip codes hold 3,315 properties, accounting for 75.0% of all investor-owned SFR in Benton County, demonstrating extreme localized concentration.

While 97330 leads in sheer volume, the 97324 zip code exhibits the highest investor ownership rate, with a striking 38.5% of its SFR properties being investor-owned, even if its total property count is lower. This indicates a particularly landlord-dense sub-market.

Other significant areas by property count include 97370 with 450 investor-owned properties (21.8% rate) and 97321 with 442 properties (11.4% rate), further detailing the localized distribution of investor activity.

The contrast between leading by property count (97330) versus leading by ownership percentage (97324) reveals different facets of investor engagement, highlighting both large volume markets and highly penetrated smaller markets within Benton County.

Landlords in Benton County consistently maintained a strong net buyer position throughout 2025. In Q4 alone, they acquired 58 properties while selling only 15, resulting in a net gain of 43 properties and a robust buy-to-sell ratio of 3.87x.

This aggressive buying trend is not isolated to the last quarter; landlords were net buyers in Q3 (75 buys vs 24 sells, 3.13x ratio) and Q2 (70 buys vs 14 sells, 5.00x ratio), demonstrating sustained confidence in the market.

For the entire Year 2025, landlords completed 275 purchases against 65 sales, achieving a cumulative buy-to-sell ratio of 4.23x. This indicates a significant expansion of landlord portfolios over the past year.

Comparing annual trends, the 2025 buy-to-sell ratio of 4.23x, while strong, represents a slight decrease from the 4.51x recorded in 2024 (293 buys vs 65 sells). This suggests a minor deceleration in the pace of landlord accumulation, but they remain firmly in acquisition mode.

In stark contrast to the active overall landlord market, institutional investors (those owning 1000+ properties) showed no transaction activity in Benton County across any timeframe in 2025 or 2024, signaling their complete absence from this local market.

Landlords played a substantial role in Q4 2025, participating in 58 SFR transactions, which accounts for 22.1% of the total 263 transactions recorded in Benton County during the quarter. This demonstrates their ongoing market influence.

The transaction activity was almost exclusively driven by mom-and-pop landlords, with Tiers 01-04 (1-10 properties) responsible for 55 of the 58 landlord transactions. Institutional investors (Tier 09) registered no activity.

Average purchase prices in Q4 varied widely by investor tier, indicating diverse strategies. Single-property landlords paid an average of $481,277, while small landlords (3-5 properties) acquired properties at the highest average of $797,000, suggesting a focus on higher-value assets.

Conversely, small-medium landlords (21-50 properties) paid the lowest average price at $333,449, potentially signaling strategic acquisitions of distressed or value-add properties. This represents a significant $463,551 price spread between the highest and lowest average tier prices.

Inter-landlord trading was particularly prominent among two-property landlords, with 50.0% of their Q4 purchases (1 out of 2 transactions) coming from other landlords. Small landlords (6-10 properties) also showed significant inter-landlord activity, at 42.9% (3 out of 7 transactions), highlighting a dynamic internal market.