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

In LaMoure County, landlords have a remarkably high market penetration, owning 547 of the 1,180 total Single-Family Residential properties, which constitutes 46.4% of the market.

The investor landscape is almost exclusively composed of individuals, who own 530 properties (96.9%), while companies hold a minimal stake of just 18 properties (3.3%).

This market is dominated by small-scale operators, with 600 individual landlords compared to only 16 company entities, underscoring the local, non-corporate nature of real estate investing in the area.

Cash is the primary method of ownership, with 494 properties owned outright compared to only 53 that are financed, indicating a low reliance on leverage among local investors.

The portfolio is heavily focused on rental income, as 542 of the 547 investor-owned properties are classified as rented or non-owner-occupied, a rate of 99.1%.

In Q1 2026, landlords made zero acquisitions in LaMoure County, preventing any direct price comparison against the average traditional homeowner price of $153,013 for the quarter.

Historical data reveals a highly volatile and inconsistent pricing environment, likely driven by very low transaction volumes. For example, in Q3 2025 landlords paid a 43.2% premium ($199,000 vs $138,983), while in Q1 2025 they paid an anomalous 187.3% premium ($585,000 vs $203,630).

This lack of a consistent discount or premium suggests that individual transactions, rather than broad market trends, dictate pricing for investors in this rural market.

The price landlords paid for properties fluctuated dramatically in 2025, from an average of $585,000 in Q1 to just $199,000 in Q3, demonstrating the absence of stable pricing patterns.

Comparing broader timeframes, the average landlord acquisition price during the 2020-2023 period was $77,155, significantly lower than the volatile prices seen in 2025, which averaged $171,364 for the year.

Investor activity represented one-fifth of the market in Q4 2025, with landlords acquiring 1 of the 5 total SFR properties sold in LaMoure County.

In a departure from the county's ownership structure, the sole purchase was made by a mid-size landlord from the 'Large' tier (101-1000 properties), who acquired 1 property.

Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who represent the vast majority of owners, were completely inactive on the buy-side during the quarter, making zero acquisitions.

Similarly, institutional investors with over 1,000 properties also made no purchases, reflecting their overall absence from this market.

The quarter's activity shows a significant disconnect between the market's static ownership base, which is 99.8% mom-and-pop, and its acquisition activity, which was 100% driven by a larger operator.

The investor market in LaMoure County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale operators, with mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04, 1-10 properties) owning 99.8% of all investor-held SFRs.

Single-property landlords form the bedrock of the rental market, with 434 entities owning one property each, accounting for 76.1% of the entire investor portfolio.

The next largest segment consists of two-property landlords, who own 84 properties, a distant 14.7% of the total.

Institutional-scale investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have absolutely no footprint in this market, with 0.0% ownership, reinforcing the local, small-investor character of the county.

The data clearly illustrates a market structure built on small, incremental ownership rather than large portfolio accumulation, a key finding available in our property ownership by owner type report.

Individual investors are the driving force across every ownership tier in LaMoure County, with no crossover point where companies become the majority owners.

Even at the smallest scale, individuals constitute the vast majority of ownership, holding 423 of the 434 single-property landlord homes (97.2%).

This pattern continues in the two-property tier, where individuals own 79 properties (94.0%) compared to just 5 owned by companies (6.0%).

Beyond two properties, company ownership disappears entirely, with individuals accounting for 100% of the properties in both the 3-5 and 6-10 property tiers.

The data paints a clear picture of a market where corporate investment is negligible, and the rental housing stock is provided almost entirely by local, individual landlords.

Geographic analysis reveals significant concentration of investor ownership within specific LaMoure County zip codes.

The zip code 58456 stands out with the highest count of investor-owned properties at 148, representing an extremely high ownership rate of 67.3%.

Following closely are 58458 with 129 investor properties (36.5% rate) and 58433 with 121 investor properties (42.9% rate).

Some smaller areas show complete investor saturation; the zip code 58033 is 100% investor-owned, a clear indicator of a hyper-localized rental market.

This data, which can be explored further with a property search tool, shows that investor activity is not evenly distributed but clustered in key communities within the county.

Transaction history from 2024 shows that landlords in LaMoure County were in a strong accumulation phase, acting as decisive net buyers.

During the year, investors purchased 25 SFR properties while selling only 5, resulting in a net gain of 20 properties and a buy-to-sell ratio of 5.0, signaling strong confidence in the local market.

This net buying activity indicates a strategy of portfolio expansion among the existing landlord base rather than divestment.

Consistent with their lack of ownership, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) recorded zero buy or sell transactions, underscoring their complete absence from the county's transactional market.

The transaction data confirms that the market's churn and growth are driven entirely by the activity of small-to-mid-sized local landlords.

In Q4 2025, landlord transactions comprised 20.0% of the total market activity in LaMoure County, with investors purchasing 1 of the 5 homes that sold.

The quarter's only investor purchase was made by an entity in the 'Large' landlord tier (101-1000 properties), a notable event in a market where such investors own less than 1% of the housing stock.

Mom-and-pop landlords, despite owning nearly the entire investor-held inventory, were not active acquirers during this period, recording zero transactions.

The single transaction did not involve an inter-landlord sale, as 0.0% of properties were bought from other landlords, suggesting the acquisition came from a traditional homeowner.

This quarter's activity, though minimal, highlights a rare instance of a larger investor adding a property in a market fundamentally defined by small, local owners.