Worth (MO) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Worth County, investors hold a small but focused portfolio of 14 Single-Family Residential properties, making up 6.5% of the county's 216 total SFRs.

The ownership structure is overwhelmingly dominated by private individuals, who own 13 of the 14 properties (92.9%). A single property is held by a company, accounting for the remaining 7.1%.

A significant financial characteristic of this market is the complete absence of leverage. All 14 investor-owned homes (100%) are owned free and clear with cash, with zero properties recorded as financed.

The entire investor portfolio is actively utilized for rental income, with all 14 properties (100%) classified as rented. This indicates that investors in this area are focused exclusively on long-term rental strategies rather than other forms of investment like flipping or holding vacant land.

The market consists of 21 distinct landlords (20 individuals and 1 company) for the 14 properties, suggesting some properties are co-owned. This structure further reinforces the small-scale, personal nature of real estate investing in the county.

A price comparison between landlords and traditional homeowners in Worth County cannot be conducted for Q1 2026 due to a complete lack of transaction data for the period.

No SFR properties were purchased by landlords, and none were purchased by traditional homeowners, resulting in zero data points for analysis.

This absence of market activity is the most significant finding. It points to an extremely illiquid and static real estate environment where properties rarely change hands.

Consequently, it is not possible to determine if a price gap exists between investor and homeowner acquisitions, nor can any trends in appreciation or market dynamics be observed for the recent quarter.

The lack of sales velocity suggests a market composed of long-term holders with little turnover, a sharp contrast to more dynamic and speculative regions.

Investor purchasing activity in Worth County was nonexistent in Q1 2026, with landlords acquiring zero properties out of zero total SFR market purchases.

This complete halt in activity means landlords had a 0.0% market share of purchases for the quarter, reflecting a dormant investment landscape.

Analysis by tier reveals no activity across the board. Mom-and-pop investors (1-10 properties) and institutional investors (1000+ properties) both recorded zero acquisitions.

The lack of purchases in the single-property tier signifies that no new landlords entered the Worth County market during Q1.

The data points to a period of market stasis, with no portfolio growth or new entries from any segment of the investor community.

The investor ownership landscape in Worth County is exclusively composed of the smallest-scale landlords. Mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04, holding 1-10 properties) control 100% of the 14 investor-owned SFRs.

Dissecting this further, the market is even more concentrated, with all 14 properties (100%) belonging to single-property landlords in Tier 01.

There is absolutely no presence from mid-size (11-1,000 properties) or institutional (1,000+ properties) investors in the county, underscoring its hyper-local and small-scale character.

Due to the lack of recent transactions, it is not possible to analyze how acquisition prices may vary by tier. The existing portfolio represents long-term holdings with no recent price discovery.

This complete concentration in Tier 01 is a defining feature, indicating a market devoid of the portfolio-building activity seen in more active regions.

Within Worth County's investor market, which consists entirely of single-property landlords, individual owners are the dominant force. They hold 13 of the 14 properties, a 92.9% share.

A single property is owned by a company, representing the remaining 7.1% of the investor-held housing stock.

Given that ownership does not extend beyond the first tier, there is no crossover point where companies become the majority owners. The market structure is firmly controlled by private individuals.

The lack of transactional data prevents a comparison of acquisition prices between individual and company buyers.

This ownership pattern highlights a market where real estate investing remains a personal, small-scale endeavor rather than a corporate one.

All investor-owned SFR activity in Worth County is located within two zip codes. The 64456 zip code holds the majority of properties, with 10 investor-owned homes, translating to a 6.8% ownership rate.

The 64486 zip code has a higher concentration of investor ownership, with a 9.5% rate, though this represents a smaller count of 4 properties.

Other zip codes in the county, such as 64441, 64475, and 64499, show no discernible investor-owned SFR properties in the current dataset.

This tight geographic concentration suggests that rental demand and investment viability are localized to specific communities within the small county.

There is insufficient recent sales data to compare acquisition prices across these micro-markets.

An analysis of historical transaction trends for Worth County landlords cannot be performed due to the absence of available data.

Without a record of past buy and sell activities, it is not possible to establish whether landlords have historically been net buyers or net sellers.

Key metrics such as the buy/sell ratio, which indicates market direction and investor sentiment, cannot be calculated.

Furthermore, the data does not allow for an analysis of inter-landlord trading. The percentage of transactions that occur between investors, a key sign of market maturity, remains unknown.

Similarly, a comparison of average buy prices versus sell prices over time to infer potential profit margins is not feasible.

In Q1 2026, landlords accounted for 0.0% of the total 0 transactions in Worth County's SFR market, reflecting a complete absence of activity.

No transactions were recorded for any investor tier, from single-property mom-and-pop landlords to institutional-scale firms.

As a result of zero purchasing, there is no data on average acquisition prices by tier, preventing any comparison of buying strategies between small and large investors.

The level of inter-landlord trading was also zero, as no properties were bought or sold by investors during the quarter.

This lack of transactional volume underscores the county's status as a stable, hold-oriented market with extremely limited liquidity in the current period.