Perry (PA) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Individual landlords are the predominant force in Perry County's SFR investment landscape, owning 1,804 (91.8%) of the 1,966 investor-owned properties. This heavily outweighs company-owned properties, which total only 181 (9.2%).

Perry County's landlords collectively manage 1,966 SFR properties, representing 16.1% of the total 12,207 SFR properties in the market. This indicates a significant but not overwhelming presence of investors in the local housing stock.

The portfolio composition reveals a strong rental-focused strategy, with 1,919 properties classified as rented. This suggests that the majority of investor holdings contribute directly to the rental market supply in the county.

Cash acquisitions are overwhelmingly preferred by landlords in Perry County, with 1,487 properties acquired via cash compared to only 479 properties financed. This could indicate a preference for reducing debt or a higher availability of capital among local investors.

Individual landlords are also far more numerous in entity count, with 2,356 individual landlords compared to 161 company landlords. This reinforces the 'mom-and-pop' nature of the investor market in Perry County, where single investors or small partnerships form the bulk of market participants.

Landlords in Perry County consistently acquired properties at a lower price point than traditional homeowners throughout 2025. In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $235,466, which is $38,677 (14.1%) less than the average homeowner price of $274,143.

The price advantage for landlords was most pronounced in Q3 2025, where they paid an average of $171,190 compared to homeowners' $283,544, marking a substantial $112,354 (39.6%) discount. This highlights periods of significant buying opportunity for investors.

While the data indicates zero landlord properties purchased in any quarter of 2025 for Perry County, the reported average acquisition prices still demonstrate a clear pricing disparity when landlords *do* acquire property, consistently undercutting homeowner prices.

The price gap shows variability throughout the year: Q1 saw a 12.7% discount ($34,133 difference), Q2 had a 29.1% discount ($73,943 difference), and Q3 reached its peak at 39.6%. This fluctuation suggests varying market conditions or specific deal-making opportunities for investors.

Despite the lack of recorded purchases in 2025, the historical average prices demonstrate that when landlords are active, they maintain a strategic advantage in pricing, often paying significantly less than the broader market.

Landlords played a significant role in Perry County's Q4 2025 housing market, comprising 22.9% of all SFR purchases. Out of 118 total SFR properties bought, 27 were acquired by landlord entities, indicating a sustained investor interest.

The overwhelming majority of Q4 landlord purchases came from mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who acquired 25 properties, representing 92.6% of all landlord purchases. This highlights their continued activity and influence in the local market.

Notably, single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, purchasing 24 properties during Q4 2025. This activity was spread across 34 distinct entities, suggesting a healthy influx of new or expanding small-scale investors into the market.

In contrast to the mom-and-pop dominance, institutional investors (Tier 09) had minimal purchasing activity, acquiring only 1 property in Q4 2025. This accounts for a mere 3.7% of all landlord purchases, underscoring their limited role in recent local acquisitions.

The high number of entities (34) associated with Tier 01 purchases (24 properties) indicates that many individual buyers are entering the market with their first investment property, forming the backbone of Q4's landlord acquisition trends.

Mom-and-pop landlords, encompassing portfolios from 1 to 10 properties (Tiers 01-04), collectively control a dominant 97.1% of all investor-owned SFR properties in Perry County. This represents 1,965 properties out of a total of 2,023 landlord-owned SFR properties, showcasing their overwhelming market presence.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the bedrock of the investor market, owning 1,631 properties, which accounts for 80.6% of the total landlord-owned SFR properties. This confirms that the vast majority of investor holdings are concentrated among smaller, individual investors.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a very minor share, owning only 4 properties, which translates to a mere 0.2% of the total landlord-owned SFR properties in Perry County. This defies common narratives of institutional market dominance in this county.

Medium-sized landlords (Tiers 05-08, 11-1000 properties) represent a modest portion of the market, with Tiers 11-20 holding 29 properties (1.4%), Tiers 21-50 holding 21 properties (1.0%), and Tiers 101-1000 holding 4 properties (0.2%). Their collective footprint remains significantly smaller than mom-and-pop investors.

The distribution clearly indicates a highly fragmented landlord market in Perry County, where small-scale investors with only a few properties overwhelmingly drive ownership patterns, while large institutional players have a negligible presence.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate ownership across all observed tiers in Perry County. In the largest segment, single-property portfolios (Tier 01), individuals own 1,529 properties (92.8%), compared to companies owning only 118 (7.2%).

This individual investor dominance continues into slightly larger portfolios. For instance, in the two-property tier (Tier 02), individuals hold 111 properties (88.1%), far outpacing company ownership at 15 properties (11.9%).

Even in mid-range tiers like 6-10 properties (Tier 04), individual investors maintain a significant lead, owning 13 properties (68.4%) compared to 6 properties (31.6%) held by companies. This suggests that company control does not become a majority in any observed tier for Perry County.

For small-medium landlords (Tiers 11-20), individuals own 27 properties (93.1%) versus companies at 2 properties (6.9%), further solidifying the individual investor's position as the primary owner type across varying portfolio sizes.

The lack of a 'crossover point' where company ownership surpasses individual ownership in any tier indicates a consistently fragmented, individually-driven investment market, rather than one shifting towards corporate consolidation.

The sub-geography PA-Perry-17074 leads in raw investor-owned property count with 319 properties, representing a 16.5% investor ownership rate. This indicates a significant concentration of investor holdings in this specific area within Perry County.

While not leading in raw count, PA-Perry-17006 shows a remarkably high investor ownership rate of 43.6% with 193 properties. This suggests that nearly half of the SFR properties in this area are investor-owned, signaling a deeply penetrated rental market.

An outlier in ownership rate is PA-Perry-17071, where an astounding 88.9% of properties are investor-owned. This incredibly high rate suggests a unique local market dynamic, possibly with a very small total SFR inventory heavily dominated by rentals.

The top 5 regions by investor-owned property count (PA-Perry-17074, 17020, 17006, 17053, 17062) collectively represent a significant portion of landlord activity in Perry County, demonstrating geographic concentration of investment.

There is a clear distinction between regions with the highest number of investor-owned properties and those with the highest investor ownership *percentage*. Regions like PA-Perry-17071 (88.9%) and PA-Perry-17021 (50.0%) have extremely high rates, but may not have the largest absolute numbers of properties compared to areas like PA-Perry-17074.

Landlords in Perry County are consistently net buyers, demonstrating robust accumulation activity throughout 2024 and 2025. In Q4 2025 alone, they conducted 39 buy transactions against only 14 sell transactions, resulting in a net gain of 25 properties and a strong 2.79x buy-to-sell ratio.

This buying trend is evident across all recent periods: Year 2025 saw 123 buys versus 42 sells (net 81), and Year 2024 had 134 buys versus 33 sells (net 101). These figures illustrate a sustained strategy of portfolio expansion among local investors.

In stark contrast to the overall market, institutional investors (1000+ properties) are clearly in a divestment phase. For Year 2025, they were net sellers with 3 buys and 7 sells (net -4), indicating a retreat from the Perry County market.

The institutional selling trend was particularly clear in Q3 2025, with 1 buy and 2 sells (net -1). Even in Q4 2025, they were balanced at 1 buy and 1 sell, suggesting a continued cautious approach or strategic exit from certain holdings.

The diverging transaction patterns between all landlords (net buyers) and institutional investors (net sellers year-to-date) highlight a shift in market participation, with smaller investors driving growth while larger players scale back their presence in Perry County.

Landlords were involved in a substantial portion of Q4 2025 transactions in Perry County, accounting for 39 out of 180 total SFR transactions, which represents a 21.7% market share. This indicates active participation in the local real estate fluidity.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) dominated transaction activity in Q4, completing 34 transactions. Their average purchase price was $241,811, suggesting a focus on acquiring moderately priced properties, likely as first-time investments or additions to small portfolios.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) engaged in only 1 transaction during Q4 2025, at a significantly lower average purchase price of $50,000. This price is a remarkable 79.3% less than what single-property landlords paid, possibly indicating distressed asset purchases or unique off-market deals.

The percentage of properties bought from other landlords was relatively low for the most active tier. Single-property landlords sourced only 3 (8.8%) of their 34 Q4 transactions from other landlords, suggesting they primarily acquire properties from traditional homeowners or non-investor sellers.

While Tier 01 showed the highest volume, activity from other mom-and-pop tiers (02 and 03-05) was minimal, with only 1 transaction each. This further emphasizes the dominance of entry-level investors in Q4 transaction volumes.