Burleigh (ND) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Burleigh County, investors hold 2,113 Single-Family Residential (SFR) properties, making up 8.1% of the total 25,950 SFRs in the market.

Individual investors are the backbone of the rental market, owning 1,557 properties, which accounts for 73.7% of all investor-owned SFRs. In contrast, company-owned properties number 588, or 27.8% of the investor portfolio.

A look at entity counts reveals an even greater dominance by individuals: 2,188 individual landlords operate in the market compared to just 291 companies. This indicates that company portfolios are larger on average, with each company owning approximately 2.0 properties, while each individual landlord owns 0.7 properties on average.

The financial structure of these holdings shows a strong cash position across the portfolio. There are 1,330 properties owned outright with cash, significantly outnumbering the 783 properties that are financed. This suggests that a majority of investors have low leverage.

The portfolio is overwhelmingly geared towards rental income, with 2,047 of the 2,113 properties identified as rented. This 96.9% rental penetration rate underscores the business-focused nature of real estate investing in the county.

In Q1 2026, landlords demonstrated a distinct pricing advantage, acquiring properties at an average price of $420,901. This was 5.8% lower than the $446,713 paid by traditional homeowners, resulting in a savings of $25,812 per property.

However, this discount is not consistent. In Q2 2025, the trend reversed dramatically, with landlords paying a significant premium of 34.7%, or $153,842 more than homeowners on average. This anomaly, juxtaposed with discounts of 7.3% in Q3 2025 and 11.9% in Q1 2025, suggests opportunistic buying rather than a fixed discount strategy.

Long-term price trends show significant market appreciation. The average landlord acquisition price in 2025 ($452,383) was slightly higher than in 2024 ($443,976), but both are substantially above the pandemic-era (2020-2023) average of $336,742.

This sustained price growth indicates a healthy, appreciating market, yet landlords consistently find ways to acquire properties below the prices paid by the general public.

In the final quarter of 2025, investors were a significant force in the Burleigh County market, purchasing 30 of the 213 total SFRs sold, capturing a 14.1% market share of acquisitions.

The activity was overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, were responsible for 28 of the 30 investor purchases, or 93.3% of the total.

New entrants made up the largest portion of this activity. Investors in the single-property tier acquired 22 properties, signaling a healthy influx of new landlords into the market.

In sharp contrast, institutional investors with portfolios of over 1,000 properties made a minimal impact, acquiring just one property in Q4. This highlights that market growth is being driven from the ground up, not by large corporations.

A single purchase in the 21-50 property tier also shows that some mid-size investors are continuing to expand their local portfolios.

The ownership structure of investor properties in Burleigh County is heavily decentralized and dominated by small investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) collectively own 89.2% of the 2,113 investor-held SFRs.

This finding defies the common narrative of corporate dominance in the rental market. Institutional investors (1,000+ properties) have a nearly non-existent presence, holding just 3 properties, which represents a mere 0.1% of the investor-owned inventory.

The single-property landlord is the cornerstone of the market. This tier alone, comprising investors with just one rental property, accounts for 1,464 properties, or 67.1% of the entire investor portfolio.

Mid-size investors (11-1000 properties) hold the remaining share, with the 21-50 property tier being the most significant of this group, controlling 172 properties (7.9%).

Overall, the data paints a picture of a highly fragmented market, with ownership spread across a large number of small-scale operators rather than being concentrated in the hands of a few large entities.

Analysis of ownership by entity type reveals a clear lifecycle for investors in Burleigh County. Individuals are the dominant force in smaller portfolios, but companies take over as portfolio sizes increase.

The crossover point occurs in the 6-10 property tier. At this level, companies own 80 properties (72.7%), while individual investors own just 30 (27.3%). This suggests that as operational complexity and liability grow, investors tend to incorporate.

In the tiers below this, individuals maintain a strong majority. They own 87.2% of properties in the single-property tier, 84.2% in the two-property tier, and 73.1% in the 3-5 property tier.

Even at the entry level, some investors choose to incorporate from the start. Companies own 191 properties (12.8%) in the single-property tier, indicating a strategic choice made by a subset of new landlords.

This pattern highlights a natural progression in investor sophistication, where growth is strongly correlated with the adoption of a corporate ownership structure.

Geographic analysis of investor ownership in Burleigh County reveals two distinct patterns: concentration by volume and concentration by rate.

The largest number of investor-owned properties are located in the county's primary zip codes: 58503 (812 properties), 58501 (628 properties), and 58504 (524 properties). Together, these three areas account for 1,964 properties, or 93.0% of the entire investor portfolio.

Despite the high volume, investor ownership rates in these core areas are modest, at 7.5%, 8.9%, and 7.2%, respectively. This indicates that while they are popular, investors are not the dominant owners in these markets.

In contrast, several smaller, likely more rural zip codes exhibit extremely high investor penetration. Zip code 58494 leads with a 38.8% investor ownership rate, followed by 58560 (33.3%) and 58579 (32.5%). In these areas, investors own a third or more of the housing stock.

This data suggests different strategies are at play. Investors target the main population centers for volume and a large tenant pool, while targeting smaller communities for market control and possibly higher yields.

Transaction data reveals that landlords in Burleigh County are in a strong accumulation phase. In Q1 2026, they purchased 41 properties while selling only 13, resulting in a net gain of 28 properties for their collective portfolio.

This net-buyer behavior is a consistent, long-term trend. In 2025, investors bought 3.6 properties for every one they sold (262 buys vs. 72 sells). This pattern was similar in 2024, with a ratio of 4.1 buys for every sale (243 buys vs. 59 sells).

The market's growth is being fueled exclusively by small and mid-size investors. Institutional investors (1000+ properties) have shown minimal activity, acting as net neutral sellers in 2025 with just one purchase and one sale.

This stark contrast demonstrates that the confidence and expansion in the local rental market are driven by ground-level operators, not large-scale corporations.

The steady volume of acquisitions year-over-year signals sustained belief in the strength and future prospects of the Burleigh County housing market among local and regional investors.

In Q1 2026, landlords were involved in 41 of the 327 total SFR transactions in Burleigh County, accounting for a 12.5% share of all market activity.

A significant pricing gap exists based on investor size and experience. The average purchase price for new, single-property landlords was $387,479. In contrast, the institutional investor active this quarter paid only $273,529, a discount of 29.4% or $113,950 per property. This highlights the purchasing power and deal-sourcing advantages of larger players.

The majority of transactions (32) were made by investors in the single-property tier, underscoring the importance of new market entrants.

Interestingly, these new investors sourced none of their properties from other landlords, suggesting they primarily purchase from homeowners. This contrasts with the 3-5 property tier, where investors sourced two-thirds (66.7%) of their acquisitions from fellow landlords, indicating a strategy of portfolio consolidation.

The two-property tier recorded an anomalously high average price of $787,200, likely skewed by a small number of high-value transactions within its four acquisitions.