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

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord landscape in York County, owning 3,697 SFR properties, which accounts for 93.6% of all investor-held single-family residences. Companies hold a much smaller share at 305 properties, representing only 7.7%.

The landlord portfolio in York County demonstrates a strong focus on rental income, with 3,747 properties, or 94.8% of investor-owned SFR, classified as rented. This high proportion highlights the primary objective of landlords in the region as income generation.

Investor acquisitions lean heavily towards cash transactions, with 2,740 properties purchased outright compared to 1,211 financed properties. This 2.26x ratio suggests a preference for avoiding debt or a substantial capital base among local investors.

Despite companies owning a smaller portion of properties, they tend to hold slightly larger portfolios on average (1.22 properties per entity) compared to individual landlords (0.74 properties per entity). This indicates that individual investors often hold just a single property, making up the vast majority of entities.

The market penetration of investor-owned SFR properties in York County stands at 4.8% of all SFR properties, totaling 3,951 units. This represents a significant, albeit minority, segment of the housing market controlled by investors.

Landlords in York County consistently acquire properties at a significant discount compared to traditional homeowners. In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $379,395, a substantial $128,876 or 25.4% less than homeowners who paid $508,271.

The landlord acquisition price advantage has widened in Q4, reaching its highest discount of 25.4% for the year compared to Q3 (21.2%), Q2 (17.8%), and Q1 (21.5%). This indicates landlords are finding increasingly better deals as the year progresses.

Comparing annual trends, landlord acquisition prices have shown a notable appreciation, rising from an average of $335,507 during the 2020-2023 period to $404,613 in 2025. This represents a 20.6% increase, signaling a robust market for investors in recent years.

Across 2025, landlord prices have seen some volatility, starting at $392,137 in Q1, peaking at $431,943 in Q2, and then settling at $379,395 by Q4. Despite these fluctuations, the consistent discount against homeowner prices underscores a strategic buying advantage.

No specific data on individual versus company acquisition prices was provided in the current quarter, preventing a detailed comparison of pricing strategies between owner types in this timeframe.

Landlords played a significant role in the Q4 2025 housing market in York County, accounting for 117 distinct SFR purchases, which represents 15.3% of the total 763 SFR purchases made in the quarter.

The vast majority of landlord purchasing activity was driven by mom-and-pop investors (Tier 01-04), who acquired 111 properties. This constitutes an overwhelming 93.3% of all landlord purchases in Q4, reinforcing their critical role in the market.

In stark contrast to the mom-and-pop segment, institutional investors (Tier 09) made only 1 purchase in Q4, representing a mere 0.8% of landlord acquisitions. This highlights a minimal direct purchasing presence by large-scale entities in this county during the quarter.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, with 138 entities purchasing 94 properties, comprising 79.0% of all landlord purchases. This indicates strong activity among new or very small-scale investors entering or expanding their portfolios by one property.

Mid-size landlords (Tiers 05-08) showed modest activity, with Tiers 11-20 and 21-50 each acquiring 2 properties (1.7% share), and Tier 101-1000 acquiring 3 properties (2.5% share). This reflects a distributed purchasing pattern across various small to large investor segments, excluding the largest institutions.

Mom-and-pop landlords, encompassing portfolios from 1 to 10 properties (Tiers 01-04), exert overwhelming control over the investor-owned SFR market in York County, holding 3,911 properties, which accounts for 97.8% of the total 3,998 investor-owned units. This signifies a highly fragmented market dominated by small-scale investors.

The backbone of this mom-and-pop dominance is the single-property landlord (Tier 01), who collectively own 3,447 properties, representing a striking 86.2% of all investor-owned SFRs. This concentration in the smallest tier emphasizes the prevalence of first-time or minimal property investors.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a negligible presence in York County, owning only 6 properties, which equates to a mere 0.2% of the investor-owned market. This refutes any notion of widespread institutional control in this specific geography.

The distribution beyond single-property owners shows a sharp decline, with two-property landlords (Tier 02) holding 150 properties (3.8%) and landlords with 3-5 properties (Tier 03-05) holding 283 properties (7.1%). This rapid drop-off underscores the "long tail" nature of investor ownership.

Mid-size landlord tiers (11-1000 properties) each hold less than 1.5% of the total investor-owned properties, further reinforcing the market's heavy skew towards smaller portfolios. The largest non-institutional tier, 101-1000 properties, holds only 51 properties or 1.3%.

The crossover point where company ownership surpasses individual ownership in York County occurs at the 6-10 property tier (Tier 04). Here, companies own 21 properties (67.7%) compared to individuals who own 10 properties (32.3%), marking a significant shift in ownership structure.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smaller portfolio tiers. They own 95.8% of single-property portfolios (3,342 properties), 90.8% of two-property portfolios (138 properties), and 86.2% of 3-5 property portfolios (244 properties).

As portfolio size increases, company ownership becomes increasingly concentrated and dominant. In the large landlord tier (101-1000 properties), companies control 50 properties, representing 98.0% of holdings, while individual ownership is nearly absent at just 1 property (2.0%).

Even in the 3-5 property tier, companies hold a notable 13.8% share, indicating their presence starts to emerge even among slightly larger, but still mom-and-pop sized, portfolios.

The data reveals a clear segmentation: individuals form the broad base of the market with many small portfolios, while companies, though fewer in total properties, are strategically positioned in the higher-tier, larger-scale investments.

Within York County, SC, the zip code 29730 holds the highest concentration of investor-owned properties, totaling 868 units and accounting for a 6.4% investor ownership rate in that specific area. This zip code is a key hub for landlord activity.

Following closely in terms of sheer volume are zip codes 29732 and 29710, with 716 and 639 investor-owned properties respectively. These areas, alongside 29745 (609 properties) and 29715 (453 properties), form the top five regions by investor-owned count, revealing localized investment hotspots.

While not a leader by count, the zip code 29707 exhibits an extraordinary 100.0% investor ownership rate. This indicates a unique market, likely a very small area where all SFR properties are held by landlords, making it a highly specialized or niche investment zone.

Other areas with high investor ownership rates include 29742 (17.7%), 29717 (12.4%), 29743 (12.1%), and 29726 (11.4%). These percentages highlight areas with a significant proportion of rental housing stock, even if the absolute number of properties is lower than the top count regions.

The top 5 regions by count represent distinct areas with high investor property volumes, while the top 5 by percentage identify markets where investor penetration is unusually high, illustrating that raw volume and market share can be concentrated in different sub-geographies within the county.

All landlords in York County are currently strong net buyers, actively accumulating properties. In Q4 2025 alone, there were 163 buy transactions compared to just 29 sell transactions, resulting in a robust buy/sell ratio of 5.62x.

This net buying trend has been consistent throughout 2025, with quarterly buy/sell ratios of 3.89x in Q3 (171 buys vs 44 sells) and 3.69x in Q2 (166 buys vs 45 sells). This sustained activity indicates an expansionary phase for landlords in the region.

For the entire year 2025, landlords completed 636 buy transactions against 155 sell transactions, marking a significant overall net increase in holdings by a factor of 4.10x. This suggests continued confidence and investment in the York County SFR market.

Comparing 2025 to 2024, the net buying activity has intensified; in 2024, landlords were also net buyers but with a much lower ratio of 1.19x (230 buys vs 193 sells). This shows a dramatic shift towards more aggressive acquisition in the current year.

Critically, the provided data lacks any transaction history for institutional investors (1000+ properties) in York County. Therefore, no insights can be provided regarding their buy/sell activity or net position for this specific geography.

Landlords accounted for 163 of the 1,253 total SFR transactions in Q4 2025, representing a 13.0% share of the overall market activity in York County. This solidifies their continued, albeit not dominant, presence in the transaction landscape.

A striking pricing disparity exists across investor tiers: institutional investors (Tier 09) secured properties at an average of $187,432, which is a substantial 47.3% less than single-property landlords (Tier 01) who paid $355,468 on average. This highlights institutional ability to acquire at significantly lower price points.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) collectively drove the vast majority of landlord transactions in Q4, participating in 155 transactions, compared to only 1 transaction by institutional investors (Tier 09). This re-emphasizes the fragmented and small-investor driven nature of the market.

Inter-landlord trading activity was notably low in Q4 2025, with only 1 transaction (0.7%) for single-property buyers being sourced from another landlord. All other tiers reported zero inter-landlord purchases, indicating a market primarily driven by sales from traditional homeowners rather than other investors.

While Tier 01 purchased at $355,468, the highest average purchase price among mom-and-pop tiers was seen in Tier 02 at $485,625. Conversely, the lowest prices were observed in mid-size tiers 21-50 ($139,500) and 11-20 ($167,500), suggesting varying acquisition strategies or property types across different landlord sizes.