Clarendon (SC) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlord-owned SFR properties account for a substantial 28.5% of the total 8,834 SFR properties in Clarendon County, SC, with 2,515 units held by investors, indicating a significant rental market presence.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord landscape, owning 2,324 properties (92.4% of investor-owned SFR), while companies hold a much smaller share of 255 properties (10.1%), challenging the narrative of corporate dominance in this market.

The vast majority of investor-owned properties, 2,488 units, are designated as rented, comprising 98.9% of the landlord portfolio, highlighting a strong focus on rental income generation rather than owner-occupancy.

Cash acquisitions are the prevailing method for investors in Clarendon County, with 2,223 properties (88.4% of landlord holdings) purchased without financing, suggesting a market favoring liquid capital or strategic leveraging of assets.

Despite companies owning a segment of properties, individual landlords are far more numerous, with 2,968 distinct individual entities compared to just 251 company entities, establishing a robust mom-and-pop foundation for the local rental market.

The financing landscape reveals that only 292 (11.6%) of landlord properties are financed, reinforcing the strong preference for cash purchases or a high rate of debt payoff within the investor community.

In 2025-Q4, landlords secured an average acquisition price of $166,541, which was a remarkable $138,377 less than traditional homeowners who paid $304,918, representing a substantial 45.4% discount per property.

The landlord-homeowner price gap exhibited considerable volatility throughout 2025, starting at a 42.0% discount in Q1, narrowing to 17.1% in Q2, then widening again to 24.9% in Q3, before peaking at 45.4% in Q4, indicating inconsistent market conditions or shifting buying strategies.

Landlord acquisition prices in Clarendon County have seen a notable decline, dropping from an average of $199,400 during the 2020-2023 period to $166,541 in Q4 2025, even though the data shows 0 properties acquired by landlords in these recent quarters, which requires careful interpretation of the average prices provided.

The consistency of landlords paying less than homeowners across all quarters in 2025 – from $157,000 in Q1 to $166,541 in Q4 – suggests a systematic advantage in deal sourcing or property valuation compared to the broader market.

The largest percentage discount for landlords occurred in Q4 2025 at 45.4%, a stark contrast to the smallest gap observed in Q2 2025 at 17.1%, indicating a widening opportunity for investors to acquire properties at a significant markdown towards the end of the year.

Despite the recorded zero distinct properties purchased by landlords in each 2025 quarter and Year 2024/2025, the consistent average acquisition prices provided still reflect a pricing benchmark for landlord-type properties, ranging from $157,000 to $254,469.

Landlords accounted for a significant 41.5% of all SFR purchases in Clarendon County during Q4 2025, acquiring 27 properties out of a total of 65, demonstrating their strong influence in the current buying market.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were the overwhelming force in Q4 investor purchases, responsible for 27 of the 28 properties acquired by landlords, representing 96.4% of total landlord buying activity.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) spearheaded Q4 activity, purchasing 25 properties, which constitutes 89.3% of all landlord acquisitions by tier, showing a strong influx of new or expanding small-scale investors.

The quarter saw 31 new entities entering the market as single-property landlords, indicating a healthy pipeline of new, smaller investors contributing to the housing market dynamics in Clarendon County.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) played a minimal role in Q4 acquisitions, purchasing only 1 property, which represents a mere 3.6% of landlord purchases by tier, underscoring the market's reliance on smaller investors.

The average properties per entity ratio in Q4 highlights the prevalence of single-property acquisitions, with 31 entities primarily acquiring 25 properties, suggesting that most new entrants are starting with just one rental unit.

The concentration of Q4 activity among smaller tiers signals that Clarendon County's investor market is largely driven by individual and small-scale operations, rather than large-scale corporate expansion.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) hold an overwhelming dominance in Clarendon County's investor-owned SFR market, controlling 2,564 properties, which accounts for 98.9% of the total 2,593 properties held by investors.

The single-property landlord tier (Tier 01) forms the backbone of the market, owning 2,217 properties, representing an astounding 85.5% of all investor-owned SFR units, highlighting the significant role of first-time or small-scale investors.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a negligible presence in Clarendon County, holding only 3 properties, which constitutes a mere 0.1% of the total investor-owned housing stock, defying common perceptions of widespread corporate control.

The distribution shows a steep decline in property counts as portfolio size increases; for example, Tier 01 holds 2,217 properties, while Tier 05-08 (mid-size landlords) collectively own just 26 properties (18+3+1+4), demonstrating extreme concentration at the smallest end of the spectrum.

While specific 'All Time' acquisition prices by tier are not provided in this section, the sheer dominance of mom-and-pop landlords suggests that their individual acquisition strategies largely shape the overall market's pricing dynamics for investor-owned properties.

The average portfolio size per entity for Tier 01 is approximately one property, as indicated by the high property count, while larger tiers like Tier 08 (101-1000 properties) only contain 4 properties, illustrating a highly fragmented market structure.

The current tier distribution indicates a stable, deeply entrenched mom-and-pop market; without historical tier distribution data, it's difficult to ascertain specific evolution over time, but the current figures suggest a long-standing pattern of small-scale investment.

The ownership landscape in Clarendon County shifts dramatically as portfolio size increases: individual investors dominate all tiers up to 5 properties, but companies become the majority owners starting at the small landlord (6-10 properties) tier, controlling 66.7% (18 properties) compared to individuals' 33.3% (9 properties).

Individual investors represent the overwhelming majority in the smallest tiers, owning 2,069 properties (91.0%) in the single-property tier and 158 properties (91.3%) in the two-property tier, solidifying their role as the primary entry point into the landlord market.

Even in larger categories, individual investors maintain a significant presence; for instance, in the small-medium (11-20 properties) tier, individuals own 16 properties (88.9%), demonstrating that individual wealth can still support substantial portfolios.

The crossover point at the 6-10 property tier is a crucial indicator, showing where the operational scale and capital requirements begin to favor company structures over individual ownership, signaling a shift in investor strategy.

For the largest institutional tier (1000+ properties), companies are the sole owners, holding all 3 properties, underscoring that large-scale, multi-property portfolios are exclusively managed by corporate entities.

The data does not provide specific acquisition price differences between individual and company buyers within each tier, which limits insights into their respective purchasing power or market strategies.

While the overall individual vs. company split is skewed towards individuals (as seen in Section 5), the tier-specific breakdown clearly shows that company ownership scales up with portfolio size, eventually surpassing individual ownership in larger investment brackets.

The Zip Code 29102 in Clarendon County, SC, stands out as the primary hub for investor activity, boasting the highest count of landlord-owned properties at 1,257, which represents a 25.6% investor ownership rate within that specific area.

While 29102 leads in raw property counts, Zip Code 29056 exhibits the highest investor ownership concentration, with a striking 46.2% of its SFR properties being investor-owned, indicating a highly landlord-penetrated market despite its likely smaller size.

Another significant pocket of investor activity is Zip Code 29148, where 743 properties are investor-owned, contributing to a high ownership rate of 37.5%, making it a key area for rental market operations.

The data reveals that high property count and high ownership rate regions do not always perfectly align; for example, 29056 has a much higher percentage than 29102, suggesting different underlying market sizes and investor saturation levels.

Acquisition prices are not provided at this sub-geographic level within the available data, preventing insights into regional pricing disparities for investor purchases in Clarendon County.

Landlord entities are highly concentrated in the top regions, with SC-Clarendon-29102 likely hosting the largest number of individual and company landlords due to its high property count.

The regional distribution underscores that investor activity in Clarendon County is not uniform, but rather concentrated in specific zip codes, indicating targeted investment strategies or localized market opportunities.

All landlords in Clarendon County are consistently net buyers, demonstrated by a robust 6.0x buy-to-sell ratio in Q4 2025, with 36 properties acquired versus only 6 sold, indicating strong market confidence and accumulation of assets.

This net buying trend is consistent throughout 2025, with 128 buys against 33 sells (3.88x ratio) for the entire year, and 110 buys against 19 sells (5.79x ratio) in 2024, highlighting sustained growth in landlord portfolios.

In contrast to the overall landlord market, institutional investors (1000+ tier) exhibited a net neutral position in 2024, with 1 buy and 1 sell, suggesting a strategy of portfolio rebalancing rather than aggressive expansion or divestment in this geography.

The provided data does not include the percentage of buy or sell transactions that occur between landlords, limiting insight into the internal liquidity and trading patterns within the investor segment.

While average buy and sell prices are not explicitly provided in this section for all landlords, the consistent net buying indicates that acquisition opportunities are perceived as favorable, outweighing motivations for selling.

The significant difference in transaction volumes between Q4 2025 (36 buys) and other quarters suggests dynamic market entry and exit points for landlords, with Q2 2025 also seeing high activity (39 buys).

The distinct transaction patterns of institutional investors compared to all landlords signal different investment objectives and market influences, with smaller landlords driving the majority of acquisition volume.

Landlords were highly active in Q4 2025, participating in 36 transactions, which accounts for a substantial 35.6% of the total 101 SFR transactions in Clarendon County, showcasing their significant market presence.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) dominated Q4 transactions, accounting for 32 out of the 36 landlord transactions, reaffirming their role as the most active and prevalent type of investor in the market.

A striking pricing disparity exists between investor tiers: institutional investors (Tier 09) acquired their single property at an average price of $89,760, representing a remarkable 47.2% discount compared to the $169,929 average price paid by single-property (Tier 01) landlords.

Inter-landlord trading activity was minimal in Q4 2025, with only 1 property purchased from another landlord (by a single-property investor), representing just 3.1% of their transactions, and an overall 2.8% of all landlord purchases, suggesting most acquisitions are from traditional homeowners.

The average purchase prices vary considerably by tier, from a low of $26,000 for small-medium landlords (Tier 21-50) to a high of $260,000 for small landlords (Tier 3-5), indicating diverse property types or strategic pricing for different investor segments.

The concentration of transaction volume in Tier 01 (32 transactions) directly correlates with the high ownership distribution observed in Section 8, confirming that smaller investors are both the most numerous and most active segment.

The strategic advantage of institutional investors in securing significantly lower prices (e.g., $89,760 for Tier 09 compared to $169,929 for Tier 01) highlights a potential for bulk purchasing discounts or access to off-market deals not available to smaller buyers.