Harrison (WV) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Harrison County own a significant portfolio of 4,538 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, representing 22.8% of the county's total 19,924 SFR properties. This substantial market presence underscores the role of investors in the local housing landscape.

The vast majority of investor-owned SFR properties are held by individual landlords, who control 3,684 properties (81.2%), while company investors own 864 properties (19.0%). This distribution highlights the enduring dominance of individual, mom-and-pop landlords in the market, challenging narratives of corporate overwhelming.

The investor portfolio in Harrison County is heavily rental-focused, with 4,386 properties, or 96.7% of all landlord-owned SFR, explicitly identified as rented. This demonstrates landlords' primary objective of generating rental income from their holdings.

A striking 86.4% (3,919 properties) of landlord-owned SFR are cash purchases, significantly outweighing the 13.6% (619 properties) that are financed. This strong preference for cash transactions indicates a high degree of financial liquidity and less reliance on traditional lending for property acquisitions among landlords.

The landscape of landlords themselves is heavily skewed towards individuals, with 4,709 individual landlords compared to just 438 companies. This translates to an impressive 10.75:1 ratio of individual to company landlords, reinforcing that the market is predominantly shaped by a multitude of small-scale investors rather than a few large corporations.

Landlords in Harrison County consistently demonstrate a notable advantage in acquisition pricing compared to traditional homeowners. In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $151,060 for SFR properties, securing a substantial $90,652 discount—equivalent to 37.5% less than the average homeowner price of $241,712.

The pricing advantage for landlords has shown considerable quarter-over-quarter fluctuation throughout 2025. The discount peaked at an impressive 52.0% ($125,034) in Q2, where landlords paid $115,443 against homeowners' $240,477. This contrasts sharply with Q1, which saw the lowest discount at 15.9% ($37,904), with landlords averaging $200,919 compared to homeowners' $238,823.

While inconsistent in magnitude, the trend unequivocally shows landlords acquiring properties at a significant markdown in every quarter of 2025. The Q3 discount stood at 31.5% ($74,848), with landlords paying $162,747 versus $237,595 for homeowners. This sustained pricing disparity suggests distinct purchasing channels or negotiation leverages for investor buyers.

The consistent ability of landlords to acquire properties below market rate (as defined by homeowner purchases) highlights an efficient acquisition strategy. This could involve off-market deals, distressed properties, or bulk purchases not typically accessible to individual homebuyers.

The average acquisition price for landlords increased by 2.8% from the 2020-2023 period ($146,942) to Q4 2025 ($151,060), despite the absence of detailed acquisition volume data for some past timeframes in this specific view. This suggests a modest appreciation in investor acquisition costs over the recent years.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Harrison County were active buyers, capturing 43 of the 185 total SFR purchases, representing a significant 23.2% share of the market. This indicates that nearly one in four SFR properties sold in the quarter went to an investor, highlighting their continued influence.

The purchasing activity was not evenly distributed across investor tiers. Small-medium landlords (Tier 21-50 properties) emerged as the most active segment, acquiring 26 properties, which accounted for a substantial 60.5% of all landlord purchases in Q4. This concentration of activity suggests a targeted expansion strategy by this specific tier.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), comprising investors with 1-10 properties, collectively purchased 17 properties, making up 39.5% of total landlord acquisitions. This shows that smaller investors, while not dominating the current quarter's volume, still represent a significant portion of the buying landscape.

Specifically, the single-property (Tier 01) segment saw 23 entities involved in purchasing 16 properties in Q4, indicating continued entry-level activity. This represents a flow of new or small-scale landlords into the market, even if the total property count for this tier was lower than the entity count for the quarter.

Notably, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) made no purchases in Harrison County during Q4 2025. Their complete absence from acquisition activity in the current quarter suggests a divestment or pause in expansion strategies within this specific local market.

The average properties per entity varied by tier, with the Small-medium (21-50) tier seeing 3 entities acquire 26 properties, averaging 8.67 properties per entity in Q4. This higher ratio for larger tiers reflects their capacity for more substantial portfolio growth in a single quarter compared to smaller landlords.

The distribution of investor-owned SFR properties in Harrison County reveals a market overwhelmingly dominated by smaller landlords. Mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04), defined as owning 1-10 properties, collectively control a staggering 92.8% of all landlord-owned SFR, holding 4,287 properties in total.

Specifically, single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the largest segment, owning 3,376 properties, which alone accounts for 73.1% of the entire investor portfolio. This concentration underscores the significant role of first-time or single-asset investors in the local housing market.

In stark contrast to the small landlord dominance, institutional investors (Tier 09), those with 1000+ properties, hold a negligible share of just 0.2% of the market, totaling 10 properties. This minimal presence dispels the notion of widespread corporate takeover in this local market.

Other mid-size landlord tiers also contribute to the market, though with much smaller shares. For instance, the Small-medium (11-20 properties) tier accounts for 2.6% (122 properties), and the Medium-large (51-100 properties) tier holds 1.6% (72 properties). The progression from Tier 01 onwards shows a sharp decline in property count as portfolio size increases.

The ownership structure signifies a grassroots, fragmented market where individual and small-scale investors are the primary drivers of the rental housing supply. The collective power of these smaller landlords far surpasses that of any larger entities within Harrison County.

The ownership structure by tier in Harrison County reveals a clear divergence between individual and company investors based on portfolio size. Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smaller tiers, particularly the Single-property (Tier 01) segment, where they account for 3,131 properties (92.5%).

A distinct crossover point occurs between the Small landlord (3-5 properties) tier and the Small landlord (6-10 properties) tier. While individuals still hold 68.8% of properties in the 3-5 property tier, companies become the majority owners in the 6-10 property tier, controlling 124 properties (65.6%) compared to individuals' 65 properties (34.4%).

As portfolio sizes increase further, company ownership becomes almost exclusive. In the Small-medium (11-20 properties) tier, companies own 99 properties (81.1%), and this dominance is even more pronounced in the Medium-large (51-100 properties) tier, where companies control 71 properties (98.6%) compared to just 1 property (1.4%) by individuals.

This pattern indicates that while individuals primarily engage in smaller-scale, often single-property investments, those building larger portfolios tend to adopt a corporate structure. This shift likely reflects a strategic decision for liability protection, tax benefits, or scalability as their real estate holdings expand.

The tier with the highest individual concentration is Single-property (Tier 01) at 92.5%, while the Medium-large (51-100) tier exhibits the highest company concentration at 98.6%. This stark contrast reinforces the distinct investment profiles and operational strategies between individual and corporate landlord types in the market.

Within Harrison County, the distribution of investor-owned properties reveals distinct geographic concentrations at the zip code level. The zip code WV-Harrison-26301 stands out with the highest volume of investor-owned SFR properties, totaling 2,250 properties, which represents 23.7% of its local SFR market.

While WV-Harrison-26301 leads in property count, other zip codes exhibit significantly higher investor ownership rates. For instance, WV-Harrison-26323 shows the highest investor penetration, with 66.2% of its SFR properties being investor-owned. Similarly, WV-Harrison-26438 has a 63.6% investor ownership rate, demonstrating intense investor activity in specific smaller sub-markets.

The top zip codes by investor-owned count also include WV-Harrison-26330 with 557 properties (12.6% rate), WV-Harrison-26431 with 282 properties (20.2% rate), and WV-Harrison-26426 with 268 properties (24.7% rate). This indicates a strong concentration of investor holdings within a few key areas of the county.

A notable pattern emerges where high-volume areas do not necessarily equate to high market penetration. Zip codes like WV-Harrison-26323 and WV-Harrison-26438, while potentially having fewer absolute investor properties than 26301, have a much larger proportion of their housing stock controlled by landlords. This suggests that investors are saturating certain micro-markets.

This geographic analysis underscores that investor activity is not uniformly distributed across Harrison County. Instead, it concentrates in specific zip codes, driven either by sheer volume of properties or by high rates of investor acquisition, leading to varied impacts on local housing dynamics depending on the sub-market.

Landlords in Harrison County are unequivocally net buyers, demonstrating a strong drive for property acquisition over divestment. Across the entirety of 2025, landlords collectively purchased 202 SFR properties while selling 71, resulting in a robust buy/sell ratio of 2.85x and a net gain of 131 properties.

This net buying trend has been consistent across all quarters of 2025, with Q4 seeing 50 buys against 16 sells (3.13x ratio), Q3 registering 60 buys against 22 sells (2.73x ratio), and Q2 with 56 buys against 22 sells (2.55x ratio). This sustained acquisition signals confidence in the rental market or long-term investment strategies.

A significant divergence in behavior is observed when examining institutional investors (1000+ properties). While overall landlords are accumulating, institutional investors are consistently net sellers. In 2025, they bought only 1 property but sold 3, resulting in a net reduction of 2 properties. This trend continues from 2024, where they were also net sellers (4 buys vs 5 sells).

The overall landlord buy/sell ratio has seen a notable shift from 2024 to 2025. In 2024, the ratio was a much higher 4.86x (277 buys vs 57 sells), indicating a more aggressive buying stance. The reduction to 2.85x in 2025 suggests that while still net buyers, the market is seeing a relative increase in selling activity compared to the previous year, or a slowdown in buying pace.

The contrasting activity between all landlords and institutional investors highlights a fragmented market strategy. Smaller, individual landlords continue to expand their portfolios, while larger institutions appear to be divesting or consolidating their limited holdings within Harrison County, indicating differing long-term outlooks or portfolio management approaches.

Landlords played a significant role in Q4 2025 real estate activity in Harrison County, participating in 50 of the 251 total SFR transactions, which accounts for 19.9% of the market. This indicates that roughly one in five property changes involved an investor in the last quarter.

Transaction volumes varied across investor tiers, reflecting different levels of market engagement. The Small-medium (21-50 properties) tier executed the most transactions among the listed segments, completing 26 deals. This tier's high activity, despite its relatively small ownership share (1.9% from Section 8), suggests a period of active expansion.

A notable pricing pattern emerged: smaller landlords paid significantly more per property. Single-property (Tier 01) landlords recorded the highest average purchase price at $155,109 for their 23 transactions. In contrast, the highly active Small-medium (21-50 properties) tier secured properties at the lowest average price of $71,000, revealing a substantial price spread of $84,109 between the highest and lowest-paying active tiers.

The data indicates an absence of inter-landlord trading activity for the reported tiers in Q4 2025, with 0 transactions "Bought From Landlords" recorded for Single-property, Two-property, and Small-medium (21-50) tiers. This suggests that purchases in these segments primarily originated from non-landlord sellers.

Comparing transactional activity to overall ownership, the Single-property tier, which holds 73.1% of all investor-owned properties (Section 8), accounted for 23 transactions. Meanwhile, the Small-medium (21-50) tier, with only 1.9% ownership, executed 26 transactions, demonstrating a disproportionately high level of market activity relative to its existing portfolio size in Q4.