Big Horn (WY) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Big Horn County control a substantial portion of the market, owning 1,531 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, which constitutes 46.5% of the total SFR market. This high concentration highlights the significant role investors play in the local housing landscape.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord sector, holding 1,356 properties and representing 88.6% of all investor-owned SFR. In stark contrast, company-owned SFR properties total only 218, or 14.2% of the market, underscoring the prevalence of small-scale investors.

The rental focus of the landlord portfolio is clear, with 1,521 properties identified as rented, making up 99.3% of investor-owned SFR. This indicates that almost all landlord acquisitions are intended for the rental market rather than owner-occupancy.

A strong preference for cash transactions characterizes investor holdings, as 1,052 properties (68.7%) were acquired with cash. This significantly surpasses the 479 properties (31.3%) that are financed, suggesting a robust capital base or a strategy to avoid mortgage-related complexities among Big Horn landlords.

The vast majority of landlord entities are individuals, with 2,012 individual landlords compared to just 194 company landlords. This 10.37-to-1 ratio by entity count further emphasizes the mom-and-pop structure of the investor market in Big Horn County.

Landlord acquisition prices in Big Horn County experienced a significant shift in 2025. In Q4, landlords paid an average of $294,381 for properties, which was an 8.4% premium, or $22,861 more, compared to the average homeowner price of $271,520.

This Q4 premium marks a notable reversal from earlier in the year. In Q1 and Q2 2025, landlords consistently secured substantial discounts, paying $66,151 (24.3%) and $73,246 (25.1%) less than homeowners, respectively. This suggests a change in market dynamics or target property types later in the year.

The price trend across 2025 shows landlords transitioning from a position of leveraging significant discounts to paying premiums. The Q3 average acquisition price of $339,649 already reflected an 11.6% premium over homeowners, indicating a sustained pattern in the latter half of the year.

Looking at longer-term trends, landlord acquisition prices have appreciated considerably. The average acquisition price of $294,381 in Q4 2025 represents a 38.7% increase from the average of $212,124 observed during the pandemic-era boom of 2020-2023, showcasing robust market growth.

Despite the lack of specific data on individual versus company landlord pricing, the overall trend points to a competitive environment where landlords are increasingly willing to pay above homeowner prices, particularly in the latter half of 2025.

Landlords played a highly significant role in Big Horn County's Q4 2025 real estate market, securing exactly half of all Single Family Residential (SFR) purchases. Out of 42 total SFR transactions, 21 properties went to landlords, demonstrating their substantial influence on recent market activity.

The Q4 purchasing activity was exclusively dominated by mom-and-pop landlords, with 100.0% of all landlord acquisitions (21 properties) originating from investors owning 1 to 10 properties (Tiers 01-04). This highlights the grassroots nature of investment in the region.

Specifically, single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the sole active investor segment in Q4, acquiring all 21 landlord-purchased properties. This indicates a market largely driven by new or small-scale investors making their initial or early property acquisitions.

An impressive 31 new entities, classified as single-property landlords, entered the Big Horn market during Q4. This influx of new, small-scale investors underscores a rising interest in SFR property ownership among individual or small-portfolio players.

The complete absence of institutional investor (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) purchases in Q4 underscores their minimal footprint in Big Horn County, further reinforcing the mom-and-pop-driven investment landscape.

The investor-owned housing market in Big Horn County is almost entirely composed of mom-and-pop landlords, with Tiers 01-04 (1-10 properties) controlling an overwhelming 99.6% of all investor-owned SFR properties. This demonstrates a highly fragmented market structure, largely free from large-scale corporate influence.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the backbone of the market, owning 1,387 properties, which accounts for a substantial 89.4% of the total investor-owned SFR. This highlights the significant role of first-time or one-off investors in the local rental housing supply.

The largest investor tier, institutional investors (Tier 09), holds a remarkably small share, with only 1 property representing 0.1% of the investor-owned portfolio. This stark contrast challenges common perceptions of institutional dominance in the broader real estate market.

The remaining small-to-medium landlord tiers (Tiers 02-08) collectively make up a modest portion of the market, with two-property landlords (Tier 02) holding 5.2% (80 properties) and small landlords (3-5 properties) controlling 3.6% (56 properties). The smallest-medium tiers (11-50 properties) collectively account for less than 1% of the market.

Due to the lack of specific data in this section, insights into how acquisition prices vary by tier, or any historical evolution of tier distribution, cannot be provided. However, the current distribution strongly indicates a stable, mom-and-pop-centric market structure.

Individual and company ownership patterns in Big Horn County show a clear shift as portfolio size increases. While individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smallest portfolios, companies gain significant ground and eventually become the majority in mid-sized tiers.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) are primarily individuals, accounting for 1,275 properties (89.5%), while companies own a much smaller share of 149 properties (10.5%) in this tier. This pattern of individual dominance continues in the two-property (Tier 02) and three-to-five property (Tier 03-05) tiers, where individuals hold 69.8% and 67.9% respectively.

The crossover point where companies become the majority owner occurs in the 6-10 property tier (Tier 04). Here, companies own 20 properties, representing a substantial 90.9% of that tier's holdings, while individuals own only 2 properties (9.1%).

Interestingly, the small-medium 11-20 property tier (Tier 05) shows an equal split, with both individual and company ownership standing at 1 property each, representing 50.0% for both. This suggests a transition zone where both owner types hold similar stakes.

Due to the lack of specific pricing data by tier and owner type, it is not possible to analyze how individual versus company acquisition prices differ within each tier, or to compare their growth patterns over time. However, the ownership distribution clearly illustrates that larger portfolios are increasingly held by company entities.

Investor activity in Big Horn County is geographically concentrated within specific zip codes. The zip code 82410 leads in terms of total investor-owned properties, with 364 units. This indicates a significant concentration of landlord portfolios in this particular sub-geography.

Following 82410, other zip codes with high investor-owned property counts include 82431 with 269 properties and 82426 with 221 properties. These top three regions collectively account for a substantial portion of the county's investor-owned housing stock, signaling key areas for landlord investment.

When examining investor ownership rates, Zip Code 82420 stands out with the highest percentage, where 84.5% of all SFR properties are investor-owned. This high rate signifies a market that is heavily influenced by landlord activity and rental supply.

Notably, Zip Code 82420 appears on both the top-by-count and top-by-percentage lists, ranking fifth in total investor-owned properties with 218. This dual high ranking indicates a region where investors not only own a significant number of properties but also a very high proportion of the available housing stock.

Other zip codes with high investor ownership rates include 82423 at 77.8%, 82412 at 75.0%, and 82432 at 73.2%. These areas represent markets with high landlord penetration, even if their total property counts might be lower than the absolute leaders.

Landlords in Big Horn County demonstrated a consistent and strong net buyer position throughout 2025. Across the year, landlords acquired 110 properties while selling only 11, resulting in an impressive buy-to-sell ratio of 10.0x. This signals continued expansion of landlord portfolios in the region.

Quarter-over-quarter, this net buying trend remained stable, with Q4 showing 31 buys against 2 sells, and Q3 recording 22 buys versus 4 sells. This sustained activity indicates healthy demand for SFR properties from the broader landlord segment.

In stark contrast to the overall landlord market, institutional investors (1000+ tier) shifted their strategy to become net sellers in 2025. They acquired only 2 properties while divesting 3, resulting in a net negative position for the year.

This institutional shift is significant, as these larger investors were net buyers in 2024, purchasing 2 properties and selling 1. Their move to net selling in 2025 suggests a potential change in market outlook or portfolio rebalancing strategies among the largest players.

Due to the lack of specific data regarding the percentage of buy or sell transactions involving other landlords (inter-landlord) and average buy/sell prices, deeper insights into transaction fluidity and implied profit margins cannot be provided from this section.

Landlords significantly influenced Big Horn County's Q4 2025 transaction landscape, accounting for more than half of all SFR market activity. Out of 60 total transactions, 31 involved landlords, representing a substantial 51.7% market share.

Transaction volumes were entirely concentrated within the mom-and-pop segment (Tier 01-04), with 31 transactions recorded. There was no institutional investor (Tier 09) activity in Q4 transactions, reinforcing the grassroots nature of investment in the county.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the only active tier in Q4 transactions, responsible for all 31 landlord-involved transactions. These investors acquired properties at an average price of $294,381, which aligns with the overall landlord acquisition prices for the quarter.

Inter-landlord trading within the single-property tier was modest, with 2 out of 31 transactions (6.5%) involving sales between landlords. This suggests that while landlords are active in the market, the majority of their purchases come from non-landlord sellers.

The price spread analysis is limited, as only Tier 01 had recorded transactions with an average price of $294,381, and no data is available for other tiers to enable a comparison of average purchase prices across different investor sizes.