Lee (SC) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Lee County, SC, investors hold a portfolio of 225 Single-Family Residential (SFR) properties, accounting for 9.0% of the total 2,492 SFRs in the market. This represents a modest but notable segment of the local housing landscape.

Individual investors are the primary drivers of the rental market, owning 175 properties, which constitutes a 77.8% majority of the investor-owned inventory. Company-owned portfolios, while smaller, still account for 51 properties or 22.7% of the total.

A defining characteristic of the investor market in Lee County is the overwhelming preference for cash ownership. An extraordinary 222 of the 225 investor properties were acquired with cash, with only 3 properties carrying financing. This indicates a market of highly capitalized investors who are not reliant on leverage.

The portfolio is heavily focused on rental income, with 219 properties classified as rented. This near-total alignment of the portfolio with rental activity underscores the business-oriented nature of these holdings.

The landlord landscape is skewed heavily toward private individuals. There are 219 individual landlords compared to 51 company landlords, reinforcing the 'mom-and-pop' character of real estate investing in the area.

Investors in Lee County demonstrate a remarkable ability to acquire properties at a deep discount compared to traditional homeowners. In the first quarter of 2026, landlords paid an average of $140,000, which is $127,250 less than the $267,250 average paid by homeowners, a staggering 47.6% price gap.

This trend of securing properties below homeowner market rates is not a recent anomaly. In the second quarter of 2025, landlords paid $65,000 on average compared to the homeowner price of $177,133, a massive 63.3% discount.

The pattern continued from early 2025, where the average landlord acquisition price was $119,000 against the homeowner price of $186,500, representing a 36.2% discount. This consistency suggests a strategic focus on distressed or off-market properties.

Historical data shows price volatility but a consistently lower price point for investors. The average acquisition price during the 2020-2023 period was $81,250, indicating that while recent prices are higher, they remain well below the broader market.

In Q1 2026, landlords were responsible for 20.0% of all single-family residential purchases in Lee County, acquiring 1 of the 5 homes sold during the period. This level of activity, while based on a small sample size, shows continued investor participation in the market.

The entirety of investor purchasing activity this quarter came from the 'mom-and-pop' segment. A single new landlord entered the market, acquiring their first property and accounting for 100% of investor acquisitions.

This highlights a market characterized by organic, small-scale growth rather than large-scale accumulation. The entrance of a new single-property landlord underscores the accessibility of the local market for first-time investors.

In stark contrast, institutional investors with portfolios of 1,000 or more properties were completely inactive, making zero purchases. This absence reinforces that Lee County is a market dominated by small, local players, not large corporations.

The ownership structure in Lee County is overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, control a massive 98.7% of the entire investor-owned SFR portfolio.

The concentration is most extreme at the entry level. Landlords with just a single property (Tier 01) own 214 of the 225 investor properties, making up 92.6% of the total. This reveals a market built almost entirely on first-time or small-scale property ownership.

Mid-size landlords are a very small fraction of the market, with investors owning 11-100 properties controlling only two properties combined (0.8%). This signifies a sharp drop-off in portfolio size after the initial entry tiers.

Institutional-scale investment is virtually non-existent in Lee County. The 1,000+ property tier (Tier 09) accounts for just a single property, or 0.4% of the market, challenging any narrative of large corporate presence in the local rental market.

This distribution underscores a highly fragmented market where the vast majority of rental housing is provided by small, local landlords rather than large, consolidated entities.

Individual investors form the bedrock of the Lee County market, especially at the entry level. Within the dominant single-property tier, individuals own 169 properties (79.0%), compared to just 45 owned by companies (21.0%).

The pattern of individual dominance continues into the two-property tier, where they own 5 of the 6 properties (83.3%). Landlords in the 3-5 property range are exclusively individuals, owning 100% of the properties in that tier.

A notable shift occurs in the 6-10 property tier, where companies become the majority owners. In this small segment, companies own 2 of the 3 properties, representing a 66.7% share. This is the crossover point where a more corporate structure appears to become prevalent for managing slightly larger portfolios.

Despite this crossover, the overall market remains firmly in the hands of individual owners due to the sheer volume of properties held in the smallest tiers. The data suggests that as portfolios grow beyond a handful of properties, owners are more likely to adopt a corporate entity for management and liability purposes.

Geographic analysis reveals specific pockets of investor concentration within Lee County. The 29010 zip code is the clear epicenter of activity by volume, containing 135 investor-owned properties, though its ownership rate is a more modest 7.9%.

In terms of market penetration, the 29046 zip code stands out with an exceptionally high investor ownership rate of 56.2%. This indicates that more than half the SFR properties in this small area are investor-owned, even though the total count is only 9 properties.

The 29080 zip code represents a significant secondary hub for investors, with the second-highest property count at 43 and a high ownership rate of 19.7%. This combination of volume and density marks it as a key area for rental properties in the county.

Conversely, some areas show minimal investor presence. The analysis highlights that investor focus is not evenly distributed but is instead targeted toward specific sub-markets within the county.

This detailed geographic breakdown, available in Investor Pulse reports, allows for a nuanced understanding of where rental housing is most prevalent across Lee County.

Historical transaction data for Lee County landlords shows a market with low but fluctuating activity. In Q1 2026, the market was perfectly balanced, with investors buying one property and selling one property, resulting in a net neutral position.

This recent stability follows a period of modest accumulation in 2025, when landlords were net buyers, acquiring 3 properties while selling only 2. This marked a reversal from the prior year's trend.

In 2024, landlords were net sellers, having purchased 2 properties but sold 3, leading to a slight reduction in their collective portfolio. This year-over-year shift from net selling to net buying and now to a neutral stance reflects a responsive and dynamic investor base operating on a small scale.

There is no recorded transaction data for institutional investors (1,000+ properties), underscoring their complete lack of transactional activity in the Lee County market. All buying and selling is driven by smaller-scale landlords.

In the first quarter of 2026, landlords participated in 1 of the 6 total SFR transactions in Lee County, capturing a 16.7% share of market activity. This demonstrates continued investor engagement, albeit at a low volume.

All transaction activity was concentrated at the very bottom of the market structure. The lone transaction was a purchase by a single-property (Tier 01) landlord, who paid $140,000 for the property.

This purchase represents an acquisition from outside the investor community, as the data shows 0% of properties were bought from other landlords. This indicates that new inventory is being brought into the rental pool rather than being traded among existing investors.

There were no transactions recorded for any other investor tier, from two-property owners to institutional giants. The data paints a clear picture of a Q1 market where the only active investor was a new entrant, reinforcing the market's grassroots nature.