Humphreys (TN) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord-owned SFR market in Humphreys County, controlling 1,403 (93.2%) of the 1,505 investor-owned properties, significantly outpacing the 114 (7.6%) held by companies.

The market shows a strong rental focus, with 1,492 of the 1,505 investor-owned SFR properties actively rented, indicating that almost the entire landlord portfolio is income-generating.

Cash acquisitions are a prevalent strategy among landlords, as 1,139 of their properties were purchased outright with cash, contrasting with 366 properties that are financed.

Humphreys County has a robust mom-and-pop landlord base, with 1,875 individual landlords representing 94.9% of the total 1,976 landlord entities, dwarfing the 101 (5.1%) corporate entities.

With 28.3% of all SFR properties (1,505 out of 5,323) being investor-owned, landlords play a substantial role in the overall housing market composition of Humphreys County.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Humphreys County demonstrated a notable pricing advantage, acquiring properties for an average of $233,980, which is a $28,456 (10.8%) discount compared to the $262,436 paid by traditional homeowners.

The price gap between landlords and homeowners has shown considerable volatility throughout 2025, narrowing from a substantial 49.9% ($178,628 difference) in Q2 to 10.8% in Q4, suggesting a changing competitive landscape.

Landlord acquisition prices have experienced significant appreciation, increasing by 36.1% from an average of $171,933 during the 2020-2023 period to $233,980 in Q4 2025, signaling a robust market for investors.

Despite acquiring 0 properties in Q1-Q3 2025 according to section6-1 data (but 21 properties in Q4 according to section7-1), the reported average acquisition prices for landlords trended upward throughout 2025, from $215,653 in Q1 to $233,980 in Q4, suggesting underlying market strength.

The price trends highlight a consistent increase in average landlord acquisition costs, from $171,933 in 2020-2023 to $199,131 in 2024, and further to $216,496 in 2025, reflecting broader market appreciation.

Landlords played a substantial role in Humphreys County's Q4 2025 market, securing 21 properties which represents 35.0% of the total 60 SFR purchases made during the quarter.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) overwhelmingly drove Q4 acquisition activity, purchasing 18 properties and accounting for 81.8% of all landlord purchases, solidifying their market influence.

The single-property landlord tier (Tier 01) was the most active, with 23 distinct entities acquiring 15 properties, underscoring a dynamic entry-level investment segment.

Institutional investors (Tier 09) had minimal Q4 purchase activity, acquiring only 1 property, which constituted just 4.5% of landlord purchases, indicating their limited role in the current acquisition landscape.

The significant participation of mom-and-pop landlords and new entrants reflects a grassroots-driven investment environment, contrasting sharply with the low activity from larger institutional players in Q4.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04, 1-10 properties) overwhelmingly dominate the investor-owned SFR market in Humphreys County, controlling 99.2% of all properties, totaling 1,537 properties.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the bedrock of this market, holding a substantial 85.7% (1,328 properties) of the entire investor-owned SFR portfolio, indicating a highly fragmented ownership structure.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a minimal footprint, owning just 1 property, which accounts for a mere 0.1% of the total investor-owned SFR in the county.

While mom-and-pop investors still lead in Q4 purchases with 81.8% (from Section 7), their share of recent acquisitions is lower than their overall ownership percentage, suggesting a slight broadening of investor activity beyond the smallest tiers.

The distribution reveals that smaller, local investors are the primary custodians of the rental housing supply, a pattern that challenges narratives of large-scale corporate dominance in this specific county.

Individual investors demonstrate strong dominance in smaller portfolio tiers in Humphreys County, holding 94.4% of single-property (Tier 01) and 96.2% of two-property (Tier 02) landlord-owned SFRs.

A significant shift occurs in larger portfolios; while the 6-10 property tier shows an even 50.0% split between individual and company ownership, companies become the clear majority in the Large (101-1000) tier, controlling 75.0% of properties.

The two-property (Tier 02) tier exhibits the highest concentration of individual ownership at 96.2%, highlighting that very small portfolios are almost exclusively managed by individual investors.

Conversely, companies are most concentrated in the Large (101-1000) tier, where they hold 3 out of every 4 properties, indicating their preference for or ability to scale into larger portfolios.

This distinct pattern suggests that as portfolios grow in size, the operational and capital requirements increasingly favor corporate structures over individual ownership.

Investor-owned SFR properties in Humphreys County are highly concentrated within a few key zip codes, with TN-Humphreys-37185 leading significantly with 752 properties, followed by 37101 with 468 properties.

TN-Humphreys-37101 exhibits the highest investor ownership rate at 31.0%, signifying that nearly one-third of all SFR properties within this zip code are owned by landlords, indicating a deeply penetrated market.

There is a clear correlation between the number of investor-owned properties and the investor ownership rate; zip codes like 37101 and 37185 consistently rank high in both metrics, pinpointing specific hotspots for investment activity.

The top four zip codes (37185, 37101, 37134, and 37078) collectively account for 1,505 landlord-owned properties, precisely matching the total for Humphreys County, demonstrating that investor activity is almost entirely confined to these sub-regions.

This geographic concentration suggests that investors target specific areas within the county, likely due to factors such as demand, property values, or rental yield potential.

Landlords in Humphreys County consistently maintained a net buyer position throughout 2025, acquiring 98 properties against 37 sells, culminating in a robust 2.65x buy-to-sell ratio for the entire year.

This buying trend continued into Q4 2025, where landlords purchased 30 properties and sold 11, resulting in a 2.73x buy-to-sell ratio, indicating sustained market accumulation.

The overall buy-to-sell ratio for landlords has shown a slight moderation, decreasing from 4.35x in 2024 to 2.65x in 2025, suggesting a gradual shift towards a more balanced transaction environment.

Institutional investors (1000+ tier), despite their minimal transaction volume, also contributed to the net buyer trend in 2025, purchasing 2 properties and selling 1, maintaining a 2.0x buy-to-sell ratio.

The consistent net buying activity across various timeframes underscores a prevailing investor confidence in the Humphreys County SFR market, with sustained demand for rental properties.

Landlords were significant participants in the Q4 2025 market in Humphreys County, engaging in 30 transactions that represented 30.9% of all 97 SFR transactions during the quarter.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active tier, conducting 23 transactions at an average purchase price of $263,709, demonstrating their strong and continued engagement in the market.

Institutional investors (Tier 09) secured properties at a substantial discount, paying an average of $86,919 per transaction, which is 67.0% less than the $263,709 average price paid by single-property landlords.

While inter-landlord transactions were generally low, the Large (101-1000) tier notably sourced 50.0% of its 2 Q4 transactions (1 property) from other landlords, indicating some intra-investor trading at this scale.

The varied purchase prices across tiers suggest different acquisition strategies; larger investors appear to target lower-priced properties compared to smaller, single-property buyers who pay significantly more.