Meade (KS) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

Investor ownership in Meade County represents an extraordinary 84.9% of the single-family residential market, with landlords holding 1,107 out of 1,304 total SFR properties. This level of concentration signifies a market primarily structured around rental housing rather than traditional homeownership.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly composed of individuals rather than companies. Individual landlords own 977 properties, making up 88.3% of the investor-owned portfolio, compared to just 131 properties (11.8%) owned by companies. This structure points to a market built on local, small-scale real estate investing.

A defining characteristic of this market is its complete reliance on all-cash transactions. Data shows that 100% of the 1,107 investor-owned properties are held free of financing. This suggests investors in this area are not leveraged and have fully paid for their assets, indicating a mature, stable, and low-risk investment environment.

The portfolio's purpose is clear, with 1,106 of the 1,107 properties (99.9%) classified as rented. This near-total rental rate confirms that investor activity is focused exclusively on providing housing for tenants, making it a critical component of the local housing supply.

By entity count, individual landlords (1,320) vastly outnumber company landlords (79), reinforcing the 'mom-and-pop' nature of the market. The high number of entities relative to properties suggests a fragmented ownership base with many small participants.

A comparison between landlord and traditional homeowner acquisition prices is not possible for Meade County due to a complete lack of transactional activity in recent quarters. This absence of data is itself a key insight, pointing to an extremely illiquid and stable housing market with very low turnover.

Analysis of quarter-over-quarter price trends cannot be performed. The market has not registered any SFR sales for landlords or homeowners in the available recent timeframes, making it impossible to track price appreciation or shifts in buying patterns.

The only historical pricing benchmark is an average acquisition price of $77,392 for landlords between 2020 and 2023. However, this average is not associated with any specific property purchases in the dataset, further highlighting the market's low velocity.

Without recent sales, it is impossible to determine whether a price gap exists between what landlords and homeowners pay. In more active markets, landlords often pay less, but the static nature of Meade County's market prevents such a conclusion.

In Q4 2025, the real estate market in Meade County was completely dormant, with zero total SFR purchases recorded. Consequently, landlords acquired 0 properties, representing 0.0% of all market activity. This indicates a period of extreme stability or stagnation, with no properties changing hands.

Activity was nonexistent across all investor tiers. Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who dominate the ownership landscape, made no new acquisitions during the quarter. Similarly, there was no purchasing activity from mid-size or institutional investors.

The lack of purchases by single-property landlords (Tier 01) signifies that no new investors entered the Meade County rental market during Q4. This contrasts with more dynamic markets where new mom-and-pop landlords are constantly being created.

The data reflects a 'buy and hold' strategy taken to its extreme. The complete absence of acquisitions suggests that existing landlords are content with their current portfolios and there is little to no inventory available for purchase or insufficient demand to trigger sales.

The investor market in Meade County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04), control a combined 92.5% of all investor-owned housing in the county. This demonstrates a highly decentralized ownership structure reliant on small, local investors.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the bedrock of the market, owning 835 properties. This single tier accounts for 75.0% of all investor-held SFRs, highlighting the profound impact of the smallest investors on the local rental supply.

In stark contrast to national headlines, there is zero institutional investor presence in Meade County. The 1,000+ property tier (Tier 09) owns 0.0% of the market, underscoring that this is a purely local market untouched by large-scale corporate landlords.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) hold a minor share of the market. The 11-20 property tier holds 79 properties (7.1%), and the 21-50 tier holds just 5 properties (0.4%), together making up the remaining 7.5% of the portfolio.

Due to the lack of transactions, it is not possible to analyze how acquisition prices vary by tier. The market's static nature prevents any observation of pricing strategies between small and large landlords.

Individual investors maintain majority ownership across all existing portfolio tiers in Meade County, confirming their dominance at every scale of investment. In the single-property tier, individuals own 773 of the 835 properties (92.5%).

The crossover point where companies typically become the majority owners is never reached in this market. In the highest active tier (11-20 properties), individuals still own a 54.4% majority (43 properties), while companies hold their largest share at 45.6% (36 properties).

Company ownership, while present, is concentrated in smaller portfolios. The largest portion of company-owned properties (63) is in the single-property tier, suggesting many companies are small, locally-run businesses rather than large corporations.

The data shows a consistent pattern: as portfolio size increases, the share of company ownership tends to rise, but it never surpasses individual ownership. For instance, companies own just 7.0% of two-property portfolios but 45.6% of 11-20 property portfolios.

Without recent sales data, it is impossible to compare acquisition pricing strategies between individual and company investors within any tier. The market's illiquidity prevents analysis of who may be paying more or less for properties.

The geographic distribution of investor-owned properties in Meade County is extremely concentrated. Just three zip codes, KS-Meade-67864, KS-Meade-67869, and KS-Meade-67844, collectively account for 1,106 of the 1,107 investor properties, or 99.9% of the portfolio.

The top region by sheer volume is the 67864 zip code, with 601 investor-owned SFRs. This area alone represents over half of the county's entire rental stock.

Investor ownership rates in these core zip codes are exceptionally high, indicating these communities are primarily composed of rental housing. The top zip code by rate is 67864 at 86.7%, followed closely by 67844 (83.6%) and 67869 (82.5%).

Unlike in many larger markets, the areas with the highest count of investor properties are also the areas with the highest ownership rates. This alignment shows that investor activity isn't just a niche but the defining characteristic of the housing market in these specific communities.

Outside of these three zip codes, investor presence is negligible. For example, the 67837 zip code contains just one investor-owned property, highlighting the sharp geographic boundaries of rental market activity within the county.

Meade County's housing market shows no evidence of historical transactions involving landlords. The absence of both buy and sell data suggests a market characterized by extremely long-term holds and exceptionally low turnover.

It is impossible to determine if landlords are net buyers or sellers. Without transaction counts, a buy/sell ratio cannot be calculated, leaving the overall market direction unknown. This points to a mature market where portfolios are already established.

Similarly, there is no data on inter-landlord trading. The percentage of transactions between investors, a key metric for market liquidity and sophistication, is zero due to the lack of overall activity. Investors are holding assets, not trading them.

Price analysis between buy and sell transactions, which can imply profit margins, is also not possible. The static nature of the market prevents any insight into the financial performance of these long-held assets.

Institutional investors (1000+ tier) are not present in the county, and as such, their transaction patterns are non-existent. The market's dynamics are driven entirely by the buy-and-hold behavior of small, individual landlords.

In Q4 2025, landlord transactions accounted for 0.0% of the market share, a reflection of zero total SFR transactions occurring in Meade County. This complete halt in activity highlights a deeply illiquid and stable market environment.

Transaction volume was uniformly zero across all investor tiers. Neither mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) nor any mid-size investors bought or sold properties during the quarter. This indicates a universal 'hold' pattern across the investor spectrum.

Consequently, there was no inter-landlord trading activity. The percentage of properties bought from other landlords was 0%, as no acquisitions of any kind took place. This signifies a lack of portfolio repositioning or consolidation among existing owners.

Purchase price analysis by tier is not feasible. With no transactions, average prices for any investor tier could not be calculated, obscuring any potential pricing strategies or differences between small and larger landlords.

The transactional inactivity in Q4 is consistent with the county's overall ownership profile: a mature, long-term rental market where assets rarely change hands. The focus is on holding property for rental income, not on transactional volume or appreciation through sales.