Johnson (WY) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

In Johnson County, Wyoming, landlords collectively own 613 SFR properties, constituting 23.6% of the county's total SFR market of 2,592 properties. This indicates a notable but not overwhelming investor presence in the local housing landscape.

Individual landlords significantly dominate the ownership landscape, holding 457 properties (74.6% of investor-owned SFR), while companies own 176 properties (28.7%). This highlights the prevalence of mom-and-pop investors in the county's rental market.

The investor portfolio in Johnson County is overwhelmingly geared towards rentals, with 607 properties, or 99.0% of all landlord-owned SFR, classified as rented. This signals a strong focus on non-owner-occupied investment strategies.

Regarding acquisition methods, cash purchases account for 398 properties (64.9% of the landlord portfolio), demonstrating a preference for unfinanced transactions among investors in this market. In contrast, 215 properties (35.1%) are financed, indicating a segment of investors leveraging debt.

When examining entity types, individual landlords represent the vast majority, with 713 distinct individuals making up 76.3% of all 934 landlords. Company landlords, while fewer in number at 221 entities (23.7%), still contribute a notable share to the overall investor presence.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Johnson County paid an average of $161,302 for SFR properties, securing a considerable $237,114 discount or 59.5% less than traditional homeowners who paid $398,416. This suggests strong negotiation power or access to distressed assets for investors.

The price differential between landlords and homeowners has been highly volatile throughout 2025. In Q2, landlords paid an 83.6% premium, averaging $797,231 compared to homeowners at $434,203, a stark contrast to other quarters.

Q3 saw landlords purchasing at a 23.3% discount ($350,788 vs $457,590), while Q1 showed a 35.9% discount ($297,920 vs $464,635). This inconsistent pattern indicates a dynamic market with varied opportunities or strategic shifts by investors throughout the year.

The lack of reported property acquisitions for landlords in several 2025 timeframes means these average prices are based on extremely low or zero transaction volumes. This limitation suggests that the prices may reflect isolated or unique deals rather than broad market trends for investor activity.

Comparing Q4 2025 landlord prices ($161,302) to the 2020-2023 average of $322,836 for landlords reveals a significant decline in acquisition costs. This marks a potential cooling from the pandemic-era market highs, despite the low transaction volumes.

Landlord activity in Johnson County's Q4 2025 purchase market was minimal, accounting for only 3 properties out of 28 total SFR purchases, representing a modest 10.7% market share. This indicates a largely non-investor driven buying period.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) dominated the limited investor purchases, acquiring 2 properties which constitute 66.7% of all landlord purchases this quarter. This reinforces their foundational role in the local investment market.

Specifically, the single-property tier (Tier 01) saw 1 property purchased by 2 distinct entities, indicating new or very small-scale individual entrants. The two-property tier (Tier 02) and small-medium tier (Tier 21-50) each acquired 1 property by one entity each.

The absence of any purchases by institutional investors (Tier 09) in Q4 2025 further highlights that Johnson County's market remains primarily accessible to and shaped by smaller, local investors rather than large-scale corporate entities.

The ratio of properties purchased to entities within tiers suggests cautious entry, with Tier 01 entities acquiring an average of 0.5 properties each. This pattern reflects selective buying in a low-volume environment.

The distribution of investor-owned SFR properties in Johnson County reveals an extreme concentration among mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who collectively control 99.2% of the market. This underscores their vital role in providing rental housing.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) are the undisputed backbone of the investor market, owning 561 properties, which accounts for an astounding 89.8% of all landlord-held SFR. This highlights the prevalence of small-scale, often individual, investment.

In stark contrast to broader national trends, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have no market presence in Johnson County, holding 0.0% of investor-owned SFR. This suggests a less corporatized rental market.

Mid-size landlords, including the two-property (Tier 02) and small landlord (Tiers 03-04) categories, collectively own 59 properties, representing 9.5% of the market. Even the small-medium tier (21-50 properties) only accounts for 5 properties (0.8%).

The market structure is heavily skewed towards minimal portfolio sizes, with properties increasing only slightly across higher mom-and-pop tiers before completely dropping off at institutional levels. This structure likely results in greater responsiveness to local supply and demand dynamics.

While individual investors are the predominant force in the entry-level market, holding 440 properties (76.3%) in the single-property (Tier 01) segment, ownership dynamics shift notably as portfolio size increases.

The crossover point where companies become the majority owner occurs at the two-property tier (Tier 02), where companies own 12 properties (57.1%) compared to individuals who own 9 properties (42.9%). This signals a strategic shift in investor type for even slightly larger portfolios.

This corporate dominance continues into the larger mom-and-pop tiers; companies control 24 properties (66.7%) in the 3-5 property tier and 2 properties (66.7%) in the 6-10 property tier. This indicates that entities with multiple properties are more likely to be structured as companies.

The complete absence of institutional investors (Tier 09) means that corporate ownership, while gaining majority in mid-size mom-and-pop portfolios, does not extend to the largest investment scales in Johnson County.

The patterns reveal that while the foundational base of landlords are individuals with single properties, growth into multiple properties often involves the formation or presence of company entities, suggesting a strategic approach to portfolio expansion and management.

In Johnson County, Wyoming, Zip Code 82834 stands out as the primary hub for investor-owned properties, accounting for 542 SFRs. This represents 22.3% of the SFR market within that specific zip code, indicating a significant concentration of investor activity.

Despite its smaller total count, Zip Code 82640 demonstrates the highest investor ownership rate in the county, with 60.0% of its SFR properties being investor-owned. This highlights a very high market penetration in a more localized area, even if the absolute number of properties is low (3).

Zip Code 82639 presents a balanced scenario, featuring a robust 56.6% investor ownership rate and a considerable count of 60 investor-owned properties. This region shows a strong presence of landlords both in terms of proportion and absolute numbers.

The data reveals a contrast between areas with high absolute counts of investor properties (like 82834) and those with extremely high investor penetration rates (like 82640). This distinction is crucial for understanding varied market dynamics within the county.

Due to missing data for some zip codes (e.g., 82835, 82831), a comprehensive analysis of all sub-geographies is limited, but the available data strongly points to concentrated investor interest in specific areas within Johnson County.

Landlords in Johnson County have consistently demonstrated a net buyer position across all reported timeframes, signaling sustained accumulation of SFR properties. In Q4 2025, they bought 4 properties while selling 2, resulting in a healthy 2.0x buy/sell ratio.

This net buying trend is evident throughout 2025, with a total of 33 purchases against 8 sales, yielding a strong 4.13x buy/sell ratio and adding 25 net properties to landlord portfolios. Year 2024 also saw significant accumulation with 51 buys versus 8 sells, a 6.38x ratio.

While overall landlord activity shows consistent growth, institutional investors (1000+ tier) maintained a neutral stance in 2024, recording 1 buy and 1 sell, resulting in a 1.0x buy/sell ratio. This indicates they are not actively expanding or divesting their small presence in this market.

The low transaction volumes for institutional investors (only 2 transactions in 2024) contrast sharply with the activity of all landlords. This reinforces the finding that the Johnson County market is not heavily influenced by large-scale corporate investment strategies.

The sustained net buying suggests continued confidence among smaller landlords in the local rental market. However, the absence of data on landlord-to-landlord transactions and average buy/sell prices limits deeper insights into market liquidity and potential profit margins.

Landlord involvement in the Q4 2025 transaction market for Johnson County was minimal, accounting for only 4 transactions out of a total of 46 SFR transactions. This represents a modest 8.7% share, indicating that the majority of market activity was driven by non-landlord buyers or sellers.

All recorded landlord transactions in Q4 2025 were carried out by mom-and-pop investors (Tier 01-04), who collectively engaged in 3 transactions. This further emphasizes their dominant role in the local investor market.

Specifically, the single-property tier (Tier 01) accounted for 2 transactions, while the two-property tier (Tier 02) and small-medium tier (Tier 21-50) each had 1 transaction. No institutional transactions were recorded for the quarter.

Notably, none of the Q4 landlord purchases for the active tiers (0.0%) were bought from other landlords. This indicates that investors are primarily acquiring properties directly from traditional homeowners or other non-investor sources, rather than through inter-landlord trading.

Pricing data was only available for the small-medium tier (21-50 properties) at an average of $161,302, with other active tiers showing no recorded average purchase prices. This limitation restricts a comprehensive comparison of acquisition strategies across different investor sizes during the quarter.