Queens (NY) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Queens, investors hold a significant 20.9% of the single-family residential market, totaling 30,794 properties. This highlights a strong presence of real estate investing activity within the county's housing stock of 147,437 total SFRs.

The ownership structure is overwhelmingly dominated by individual investors, who own 26,533 properties, or 86.2% of the total investor portfolio. Company-owned properties, while representing a smaller share, still account for 4,635 homes (15.1%).

By entity count, the disparity is similar, with 41,593 individual landlords compared to just 5,982 company landlords. This reveals that the vast majority of investors in the market are small-scale, individual operators rather than large corporations.

An analysis of financing reveals that leverage is a key strategy for investors in Queens. A total of 21,331 properties (69.3%) are financed with a mortgage, while 9,463 properties (30.7%) are owned outright with cash.

The portfolio's primary purpose is clear, as 30,593 properties, or 99.3% of all investor-owned homes, are classified as non-owner-occupied. This indicates that nearly the entire investor-held inventory functions as rental housing for the community.

Investors in Queens consistently purchase properties at a lower price point than traditional homeowners. In the first quarter of 2026, landlords paid an average of $920,056, which is $64,634, or 6.6%, less than the $984,690 paid by homeowners.

This pricing advantage for landlords has not been static; it has widened over the past year. The discount grew from 3.8% ($37,480) in Q2 2025 to 5.4% ($53,464) in Q3 2025, before reaching the current 6.6% gap, indicating an increasing ability for investors to secure favorable prices.

Property values have shown consistent appreciation since the pandemic era. The average acquisition price for landlords has climbed from $831,300 during the 2020-2023 period to $920,056 in Q1 2026, an increase of over 10%.

Comparing year-over-year, landlord acquisition prices rose from an average of $897,069 in 2024 to $920,807 in 2025, demonstrating sustained market growth and equity gains for existing investor portfolios.

The consistent discount across multiple quarters suggests that investors leverage different strategies, such as off-market acquisitions or targeting properties requiring renovation, to purchase assets below the typical retail price paid by traditional buyers.

Investor activity represented a major force in the Queens market during Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 488 of the 1,258 single-family homes sold. This amounts to a significant 38.8% market share of all acquisitions for the quarter.

The purchasing activity was almost entirely driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) acquired 488 homes, which represents 99.2% of all landlord purchases, underscoring their critical role in market dynamics.

New entrants flooded the market, with 618 new single-property landlord entities acquiring 453 homes. This segment alone accounted for 92.1% of all investor-bought properties, indicating a robust and growing base of first-time investors.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) had a negligible impact on the market, purchasing only one property in Q4. This demonstrates that large-scale corporate buying is not a significant factor in Queens.

The data reveals a clear market structure where the overwhelming majority of new rental inventory is being created by small, local investors, not large, out-of-state corporations.

The investor landscape in Queens is unequivocally dominated by small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, control 99.8% of all investor-owned single-family homes, a near-total market share.

The concentration at the smallest end of the spectrum is even more pronounced. Landlords owning just a single property (Tier 01) make up the largest segment, holding 29,607 properties, or 95.1% of the entire investor portfolio.

This structure challenges the common narrative of corporate consolidation in residential housing. In Queens, the typical landlord is a small, local investor, not a large-scale institution.

The presence of institutional investors (1,000+ properties) is minimal to non-existent. This tier holds a combined total of only 13 properties, accounting for 0.0% of the investor market share.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) also represent a very small fraction of the market, collectively owning just 58 properties. This further reinforces the market's reliance on small investors to provide rental housing.

Ownership structure in Queens shifts decisively as investors scale their portfolios. While individuals are the majority in smaller tiers, companies become the dominant owners starting at the 6-10 property level (Tier 04).

In the 1-property tier, individuals own 86.0% of homes (25,760 properties). This individual dominance continues through the 2-property tier (73.6%) and the 3-5 property tier (69.7%).

The crossover point occurs in the 6-10 property tier, where companies own a commanding 77.5% of the properties. This indicates a strategic shift towards incorporation as landlords move from being hobbyists to running a professional operation.

This pattern of corporate ownership continues in the next tier up (11-20 properties), where companies own 17 properties, or 68.0% of the homes in that segment.

This data illustrates a clear lifecycle for real estate investors in Queens: they typically start as individuals and then transition to a corporate structure to manage liability and finances as their portfolio grows beyond five properties.

Investor ownership in Queens is not evenly distributed, but rather concentrated in specific zip codes. The area with the highest raw number of investor-owned properties is 11357, with 1,401 homes, representing a 21.3% ownership rate.

Following closely are zip codes 11413 (1,230 properties, 19.4% rate), 11434 (1,205 properties, 21.9% rate), and 11412 (1,174 properties, 20.2% rate), which together with the leader show a clear geographic focus for investment.

While some areas lead by volume, others are defined by the intensity of investor penetration. The zip codes 11580 and 11217 show 100.0% investor ownership, indicating these are likely small areas with specialized housing, such as entire buildings owned by a single entity.

Another high-concentration area is 11430, where investors own 85.7% of the SFR properties, demonstrating near-total control of the local housing stock.

The data reveals two different types of investment hotspots: larger neighborhoods where investors have a strong presence (around 20% share) and smaller, niche areas where investor ownership is almost absolute.

The overall investor market in Queens is in a strong accumulation phase. In Q1 2026, landlords acted as decisive net buyers, purchasing 663 properties while selling only 50, resulting in a buy-to-sell ratio of 13.26 to 1.

This aggressive buying behavior is not a recent phenomenon. The trend was consistent throughout the previous two years, with landlords netting 3,119 properties in 2025 (3,392 buys vs. 273 sells) and 3,124 properties in 2024 (3,339 buys vs. 215 sells).

A critical divergence in strategy is apparent when looking at institutional investors. In Q1 2026, this 1,000+ property tier was a net seller, acquiring only one property while selling three. This is a reversal from their net buyer position in 2025 and 2024.

The retreat of institutional capital while the broader market continues to buy signals a potential shift in market sentiment at the highest level. Large investors may be taking profits or reallocating capital, while smaller investors remain bullish on the Queens market.

This dynamic, where smaller investors are absorbing inventory and expanding portfolios while the largest players are divesting, suggests the market's growth is being driven from the bottom up. This analysis is powered by comprehensive assessor data that tracks transaction history.

Investors were a primary driver of transaction volume in Q1, participating in 35.4% of all single-family property sales. Landlords made a total of 663 purchases out of 1,872 total market transactions.

Activity was heavily concentrated among the smallest investors. Landlords in the 1-10 property tiers (mom-and-pop) accounted for 659 of the 663 investor transactions, or 99.4% of the total.

A stark pricing disparity exists between investor tiers, revealing different acquisition strategies. First-time, single-property buyers paid the most, with an average price of $924,538. In contrast, the single institutional purchase was for $346,000, a 62.6% discount compared to the smallest buyers.

This price difference suggests that larger investors target distressed or off-market assets that are unavailable or undesirable to smaller buyers, allowing them to acquire properties at a deep discount.

The market for inter-landlord trading is very thin. Only 4.7% of purchases made by single-property landlords came from another landlord, indicating that most new investors are buying from homeowners or other non-investor entities rather than from a liquid, investor-to-investor marketplace.