South Carolina Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investors hold a significant stake in the South Carolina housing market, owning 287,641 single-family residential properties, which constitutes 17.6% of the state's total 1,631,934 SFRs.

The ownership landscape is dominated by individual investors rather than corporations. Individuals own 218,177 properties, making up 75.9% of the investor-owned market, compared to 74,710 properties (26.0%) owned by companies.

This individual dominance is even more pronounced when looking at the number of landlords, with 263,535 individual landlords compared to just 39,069 companies. This indicates that company-owned portfolios are, on average, significantly larger than those held by individuals.

Cash is the preferred method of ownership, with a more than 3-to-1 ratio of cash-owned properties (213,585) to financed ones (74,056). This suggests a well-capitalized investor base that is less sensitive to interest rate fluctuations.

The portfolio's primary purpose is clear, with 281,171 properties identified as non-owner-occupied. This high concentration confirms that these holdings are overwhelmingly used as rental housing for the community.

In Q4 2025, landlords demonstrated a significant pricing advantage, acquiring properties for an average of $377,435 while traditional homeowners paid $448,713. This represents a 15.9% discount, saving investors an average of $71,278 on each purchase.

This investor discount has not been static; it has consistently widened over the past year. The price gap grew from an 11.0% discount ($48,613) in Q1 to 11.8% in Q2, 13.0% in Q3, and peaked at 15.9% in Q4, indicating a strengthening negotiating position for investors as the year progressed.

Acquisition prices have shown appreciation since the pandemic-era boom. The average price paid by landlords in 2020-2023 was $349,219, which is lower than the prices recorded in every quarter of 2025.

The widening price gap may signal several market dynamics, including an investor focus on properties requiring renovation, off-market deal sourcing, or an increased willingness of sellers to accept lower offers from cash-ready buyers.

This consistent ability to purchase below the typical market rate is a core component of the investor business model, allowing for immediate equity and better potential for rental yield and long-term appreciation.

Investor activity was a major force in the Q4 2025 housing market, with landlords purchasing 3,804 of the 15,765 total SFRs sold in South Carolina, capturing a 24.1% market share.

The market's growth is overwhelmingly fueled by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were responsible for 3,525 of these purchases, representing 90.0% of all landlord buying activity for the quarter.

A significant wave of new investors entered the market, with 3,638 new single-property landlord entities making their first purchase. This group alone acquired 2,614 properties, accounting for 66.8% of all landlord acquisitions and highlighting a robust and accessible entry point for new investors.

Institutional investors (1,000+ properties) had a minimal impact on acquisition volume, purchasing just 64 properties. This 1.6% share of landlord activity demonstrates that large corporations are not the primary drivers of new purchases in the current market.

The data clearly shows a market expansion driven from the bottom up, with thousands of new, small landlords building their portfolios one property at a time.

The structure of rental home ownership in South Carolina is highly fragmented and concentrated among small investors. Landlords with 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) collectively own 89.9% of the entire investor-owned SFR portfolio.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) represent the largest single segment by a wide margin, holding 204,752 properties. This amounts to 69.3% of all investor-owned housing, underscoring the importance of first-time and small-scale landlords to the rental ecosystem.

The narrative of Wall Street dominating the housing market is not supported by the data in South Carolina. Institutional investors (Tier 09) own 7,073 properties, a mere 2.4% of the total investor portfolio.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) bridge the gap, controlling the remaining 7.7% of the market. This group represents a critical segment of professionalizing investors who have scaled beyond a few properties.

Overall, the data paints a clear picture of a market built and sustained by local, small-scale entrepreneurs, not large, distant corporations.

A distinct pattern emerges when examining ownership type by portfolio size, revealing a transition from individual to corporate ownership as investors scale. Individuals are the primary owners in smaller tiers, holding 86.4% of single-property portfolios and 75.1% of two-property portfolios.

The crossover point occurs in the 6-10 property tier (Tier 04), where companies first become the majority owners, holding 56.5% of the properties compared to 43.5% for individuals. This suggests that managing more than five properties often triggers the need for a formal business structure.

Company dominance accelerates rapidly in larger tiers. In the 11-20 property range, companies own 74.0% of the housing, and for portfolios of 51-100 properties, their share jumps to 94.1%.

In the largest non-institutional tier (101-1,000 properties), ownership is almost exclusively corporate, with companies holding all but a single property (5,623 vs 1).

This trend highlights a clear life cycle for real estate investors: most begin as individuals, but scaling operations to a professional level correlates strongly with incorporation for liability, financing, and operational efficiency.

Investor activity in South Carolina is geographically concentrated in its largest population centers. Horry County leads the state with 28,949 investor-owned properties, followed by Greenville (26,029), Charleston (23,956), and Beaufort (20,299).

These high-volume counties also exhibit significant investor penetration rates. For example, Beaufort County has an investor ownership rate of 26.2%, and Horry County's rate is 22.7%, indicating that investors are a major presence in these coastal and high-growth markets.

However, the counties with the highest *percentage* of investor ownership are entirely different, highlighting a rural-urban divide in investor strategy. Dillon County has the highest rate at 37.8%, with Fairfield (37.5%) and Allendale (36.8%) close behind.

This distinction between high-volume and high-penetration markets suggests two different investor theses. One focuses on the scale and growth of large metro areas, while the other targets smaller markets where rental housing comprises a larger share of the overall stock.

The data shows that while investor activity is prominent in well-known areas, some of the most saturated markets are in smaller, less-populated parts of the state.

A critical divergence in strategy is evident between small and large investors. The overall landlord market in South Carolina is aggressively acquiring properties, posting a net gain of 3,751 properties in Q4 2025 and 16,592 properties for the full year.

In stark opposition, the largest institutional investors (1,000+ properties) are actively divesting. In Q4, they were net sellers of 3 properties (72 buys vs. 75 sells) and have been net sellers for the entire year, offloading a total of 86 properties.

This isn't a new trend for institutions; it continues a pattern from 2024, where they were net sellers of 176 properties. This consistent selling pressure from the largest players indicates a strategic retreat from the market.

The buy/sell ratio for all landlords in Q4 was a robust 3.74, signaling strong confidence and expansion from the small and mid-sized segments of the market.

This bifurcation is one of the most important findings: the market is growing, but that growth is driven entirely by mom-and-pop and mid-size landlords who are absorbing properties, including some potentially being sold by institutional funds.

Investors played a crucial role in market liquidity during Q4, participating in 5,120 of the 24,251 total transactions, for a 21.1% share of all transaction activity.

A striking disparity exists in the prices paid by different investor tiers. New, single-property landlords (Tier 01) paid the highest average price at $408,715 per property. In contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09) paid the least, averaging just $211,260.

This 48.3% price difference, a gap of $197,455 per property, points to fundamentally different acquisition models. New entrants are likely buying market-rate, move-in-ready homes, while institutions are likely acquiring distressed properties, bulk portfolios, or new constructions at wholesale prices.

Mid-size landlords (Tiers 02-04) appear more active in the landlord-to-landlord market, with 12.5% to 17.9% of their purchases coming from other investors. This is higher than both new entrants (9.6%) and institutions (2.8%), suggesting an established network for trading assets among experienced operators.

The data shows that as investors grow in size, their acquisition strategy shifts dramatically, moving from retail purchases towards more complex, lower-cost sourcing methods.