Union (NC) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Union County, NC, investors own 4,605 Single-Family Residential (SFR) properties, which constitutes 14.6% of the total 31,613 SFRs in the market. This reveals a significant, yet not dominant, investor presence in the local housing landscape.

The ownership structure is heavily skewed towards individuals over corporations. Individual investors own 4,059 properties, accounting for 88.1% of the investor-owned portfolio, while companies own the remaining 620 properties (13.5%).

This individual dominance is also reflected in the landlord entity counts. There are 6,157 distinct landlords in the county, of which 5,628 are individuals and just 529 are companies. This highlights that the local rental market is primarily supported by small-scale, individual real estate investing.

A look at financing shows a strong preference for cash ownership. Landlords hold more than double the number of properties in cash (3,119) compared to those with financing (1,486), suggesting a financially stable and low-leverage investor base.

The portfolio is almost entirely composed of rental properties, with 4,480 classified as rented. This demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of investor-owned homes are actively contributing to the county's rental housing supply.

Investors in Union County demonstrate a consistent ability to acquire properties at a significant discount compared to traditional homeowners. In the first quarter of 2026, landlords paid an average of $473,945, which is 27.4% less than the $652,587 paid by homeowners, creating an average savings of $178,642 per property.

This price advantage represents a growing trend. The discount widened dramatically from 16.7% ($91,143) in Q1 2025 to the current 27.4% gap, indicating an increasing strategic edge for investors in the market.

While landlords typically pay less, there are market fluctuations. An anomaly occurred in Q2 2025 when landlords briefly paid a 2.4% premium, acquiring properties for $601,737 compared to the homeowner average of $587,828. However, this was short-lived, with the market returning to a substantial 28.0% discount by Q3 2025.

Price appreciation is evident when comparing recent acquisitions to the pandemic era. The average price paid by investors from 2020-2023 was $402,178, which has since risen to $473,945 in Q1 2026, marking a significant increase in acquisition costs over the last few years.

Investor activity accounted for a significant portion of the Union County housing market in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 61 of the 224 total SFRs sold, a market share of 27.2%.

The purchasing activity is overwhelmingly concentrated among small investors. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, acquired 57 of the 61 properties, representing 90.5% of all investor purchases for the quarter.

New entrants are the primary driver of this activity. First-time landlords buying their single rental property (Tier 01) were responsible for 44 purchases, or 69.8% of the investor total. This influx of 60 new landlord entities signals a healthy and growing small-investor base.

Mid-size and institutional investors had minimal to no presence. Investors in the 11-1000 property tiers collectively purchased only 6 homes (9.5%), while institutional investors (1000+ properties) made no acquisitions at all.

This data clearly shows that the narrative of large corporations dominating the market does not apply to Union County. Instead, the market is fueled by a continuous stream of new and small-scale landlords building their portfolios one or two properties at a time.

The investor landscape in Union County is defined by the dominance of small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) control a staggering 98.4% of all investor-owned SFRs, a figure that underscores their critical role in the local rental market.

Ownership is most concentrated at the very bottom of the scale. Landlords with just one property (Tier 01) own 3,779 homes, which represents 78.7% of the entire investor portfolio. This highlights that first-time and single-property investors are the bedrock of the market.

In sharp contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a negligible footprint, owning just 9 properties, or 0.2% of the investor-held housing stock. This finding challenges the common perception of large corporate landlords dominating residential real estate.

Mid-size investors (11-1000 properties) also hold a very small share, collectively owning just 67 properties or 1.4% of the total. The data clearly illustrates that the path to scale is not a common one in Union County's investor market.

The market structure shows a clear pyramid shape, with a very broad base of small landlords and an extremely narrow peak of larger investors. This distribution has remained stable, with purchasing patterns reflecting the existing ownership structure.

While individual investors own the vast majority of properties overall, companies gain dominance as portfolio sizes increase. The critical crossover point occurs in the 6-10 property tier (Tier 04), where companies own 42 properties, or 53.8% of the homes in that bracket.

At the smaller end of the market, individual ownership is nearly absolute. Individuals own 3,488 (91.0%) of the single-property landlord homes and 337 (81.6%) of the two-property landlord homes. This reinforces that entry into the market is almost exclusively an individual pursuit.

As portfolios grow, the shift to a corporate structure becomes more pronounced. In the 11-20 property tier, company ownership surges to 95.7%, with these entities holding 22 of the 23 properties. This suggests that investors formalize their operations into LLCs or other corporate entities as their holdings expand for liability and management purposes.

Even in the medium-large tiers (51-100 properties), companies maintain their majority, holding 66.7% of the properties. This pattern indicates a clear strategic shift from personal ownership to corporate structure as investors scale their operations in Union County.

Geographic analysis reveals significant concentration of investor ownership within specific Union County zip codes. The 28110 area is the epicenter of activity by volume, with 1,124 investor-owned SFRs, although this only represents a 14.7% ownership rate for that zip code.

The top three zip codes by sheer count of investor properties are 28110 (1,124), 28112 (799), and 28103 (612). Together, these three areas account for a substantial portion of the county's total investor-owned housing stock.

However, the highest *rate* of investor ownership is found in different areas. The 28108 zip code stands out with a 71.4% investor ownership rate, indicating a market heavily saturated with rental properties. Similarly, 28105 has a 30.0% rate, and 28227 has a 20.0% rate, showing pockets of very high investor penetration.

The 28103 zip code is notable for having both a high volume of investor properties (612) and a high ownership rate (21.5%), making it a key sub-market for rental activity in the county.

This distinction between high-count and high-percentage regions is critical. It shows that while investors have a large footprint in populous areas, their market share is actually highest in smaller, more targeted communities.

Landlords in Union County are actively expanding their portfolios, consistently buying more properties than they sell. In the first quarter of 2026, they demonstrated strong net buying behavior with 81 acquisitions against only 25 sales, resulting in a net gain of 56 properties.

This pattern of accumulation is a long-term trend. Throughout 2025, landlords purchased 426 homes while selling only 72, a buy-to-sell ratio of nearly 6-to-1. The trend was similar in 2024, with 498 buys and 126 sells, showing sustained confidence and growth in the local rental market.

The transactional data for institutional investors (1000+ properties) shows their activity is negligible and has little market impact. In all of 2025, this tier purchased only 4 properties and sold 2. Their limited activity, including a neutral Q2 2025 with one buy and one sell, confirms they are not a significant force in Union County's transaction market.

The steady and high-volume net acquisition by the overall landlord community, driven almost entirely by smaller investors, indicates a robust and growing rental market from the ground up.

In Q1 2026, landlords participated in 81 of the 330 total SFR transactions in Union County, capturing a 24.5% share of all market activity. This demonstrates a strong and active investor presence in the current market.

Transaction volume was heavily dominated by mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04), who were responsible for 74 of the 81 landlord transactions. Institutional investors (Tier 09) recorded zero transactions, reinforcing their lack of active participation.

A clear pricing disparity exists between small and large investors. First-time, single-property landlords (Tier 01) paid the highest average price at $490,981 across their 60 transactions. This suggests they are often competing directly with retail homebuyers.

Conversely, larger landlords in the 101-1000 property tier demonstrated more strategic purchasing, acquiring 6 properties at a much lower average price of $325,688. This $165,293 price gap highlights the superior deal-finding capabilities of more experienced, larger-scale operators.

Inter-landlord activity shows that some investors are sourcing deals from their peers. Landlords in the 101-1000 tier acquired 33.3% of their properties from other landlords, the highest rate among all tiers, indicating a functioning secondary market for rental assets.