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

Investors hold a significant 22.8% share of the single-family residential market in Union County, owning 1,969 of the 8,644 total properties. This level of penetration indicates a mature rental market with a substantial inventory controlled by landlords.

The ownership landscape is overwhelmingly composed of individual investors rather than corporations. Individuals own 1,726 properties, constituting 87.7% of the investor-owned portfolio, compared to just 245 properties (12.4%) owned by companies.

This individual dominance is also reflected in the entity count, with 1,450 individual landlords making up the vast majority of the 1,598 total investors. This points to a highly fragmented market composed of many small-scale operators.

Investors in this market display a strong preference for all-cash acquisitions. A total of 1,919 properties are owned free and clear, while only 50 are financed, signaling that most investors are not leveraged and have substantial equity in their holdings.

The portfolio is clearly geared towards generating rental income. Of the 1,969 properties, 1,896 are classified as rented, meaning 96.3% of the inventory serves as housing for tenants, defining the core business model for investors in the area.

Investors in Union County acquired properties at a profound discount compared to traditional homebuyers in Q1 2026. The average landlord purchase price was $88,527, which is $63,553, or 41.8%, below the average homeowner price of $152,080.

This pricing advantage for investors is a consistent market feature, though the size of the discount has moderated slightly. In Q3 2025, the discount was 45.7% ($93,911), and in Q2 2025 it was 45.4% ($87,101), indicating a persistent ability for investors to secure properties well below typical market rates.

The acquisition prices paid by landlords in Q1 2026 ($88,527) are remarkably close to the average price seen during the 2020-2023 pandemic-era boom ($89,977). This suggests that while homeowner prices have risen, investors have managed to keep their acquisition costs stable.

The ability to purchase properties with such a significant price gap gives investors a competitive edge, allowing for stronger potential cash flow and higher return on investment from the outset. This pattern suggests investors are targeting distressed or off-market properties not typically available to traditional buyers.

While pricing data reveals a clear trend, it's important to note the low volume of transactions in some recent quarters. This indicates that the market, while favorable for buyers with capital, may have limited inventory, with the averages reflecting a small number of strategic purchases.

Landlords represented a formidable buying force in the Q4 2025 market, acquiring 11 of the 27 total SFR properties sold. This 40.7% market share underscores their significant impact on local housing demand and sales activity.

The acquisition activity was almost entirely driven by small-scale 'mom-and-pop' investors. Those in Tiers 01-04 (owning 1-10 properties) were responsible for 8 of the 11 landlord purchases, or 72.7% of the investor total.

The market saw an influx of new participants, with 8 new entities purchasing their very first investment property. This demonstrates a healthy pipeline of new capital entering the local rental market from first-time landlords.

Notably absent from the purchasing activity were institutional investors. The largest tier (1000+ properties) made zero acquisitions in the quarter, reinforcing the theme that this market is fueled by local entrepreneurs, not large corporations.

While mom-and-pop investors led the charge, there was some activity from larger regional players. One entity in the 101-1000 property tier acquired 2 homes, indicating some portfolio consolidation among established mid-size and large operators.

The investor landscape in Union County is overwhelmingly dominated by small landlords. Investors owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) collectively control 90.8% of all investor-owned single-family homes, establishing them as the primary providers of rental housing.

The single-property landlord (Tier 01) is the most significant segment, alone accounting for 1,323 properties, or 66.9% of the entire investor-owned portfolio. This high concentration underscores the importance of first-time and small-scale investors to the local market's health.

In stark contrast to prevailing narratives about corporate landlords, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a nearly non-existent presence. They own just 5 properties in total, representing a mere 0.3% of the investor market share.

Mid-size investors (owning 11-1000 properties) bridge the gap, collectively holding the remaining 8.9% of the portfolio. This segment, while small, includes established regional players who contribute to market liquidity.

This ownership structure reveals a highly decentralized and fragmented market. The dominance of mom-and-pop landlords suggests that the real estate investing environment in Union County is more accessible to individuals than to large-scale institutions, fostering a different set of market dynamics.

While individuals own the vast majority of rental properties overall in Union County, the ownership structure shifts as portfolios grow. The critical inflection point occurs in the 11-20 property tier (Tier 05), where companies first become the majority owners, holding 51.2% of properties compared to 48.8% for individuals.

In smaller portfolios, individual ownership is nearly absolute. Individuals own 93.9% of properties in the single-property tier and 87.4% in the two-property tier, illustrating that the path into real estate investment is typically started by private persons.

This data suggests a clear strategic shift: as landlords scale their operations beyond 10 properties, they are more likely to formalize their business by incorporating, likely for liability protection and financial management purposes.

A unique anomaly appears in the 21-50 property tier, where individual ownership surprisingly returns to a strong majority at 94.7%. This indicates that even some significantly sized portfolios in Union County are managed by individuals rather than formal corporate entities, a distinct local characteristic.

The pattern highlights that the journey of a real estate investor in this market often begins with personal capital and transitions to a corporate structure only at a specific point of scale, with many choosing to remain as individual operators even with larger holdings.

Investor holdings in Union County are heavily concentrated by volume in a single area. The 29379 zip code is the epicenter of investor ownership, containing 1,297 landlord-owned SFRs, which is roughly two-thirds of the entire investor portfolio in the county.

However, the highest market penetration is found elsewhere. In the 29364 zip code, investors own 46.6% of all single-family homes, making it the most saturated submarket on a percentage basis. In this area, nearly one in every two homes is a rental.

This highlights a key distinction between volume and rate. While 29379 has the most investor-owned properties, its overall ownership rate of 22.4% is half that of 29364. This suggests different market dynamics, with 29379 being a larger, more diverse area and 29364 being a smaller market heavily targeted by investors.

Other areas with high investor saturation include 29031 (28.0% ownership rate) and 29321 (23.5% ownership rate). These figures show that significant investor presence is not limited to just one or two zip codes but is a feature across several parts of the county.

Analysis of this geographic distribution is crucial for understanding localized market impacts, as high concentrations of rental properties can influence neighborhood character, housing availability for owner-occupants, and local property values.

Landlords in Union County are in a clear accumulation phase, consistently buying more properties than they sell. In Q1 2026, they demonstrated strong bullish sentiment by purchasing 12 properties and selling only 2, resulting in a net gain of 10 properties for the investor community.

This net-buyer trend has been consistent over the past two years. In 2025, investors added a net of 17 properties to their portfolios, and in 2024, they added a net of 13. This sustained accumulation signals long-term confidence in the local rental market.

In a significant divergence, institutional investors (1000+ tier) have been divesting. In 2024, this cohort was a net seller, purchasing 2 properties while selling 3. This suggests a strategic retreat by the largest players, likely transferring ownership to smaller, local landlords.

Overall transaction velocity shows a stable to slightly increasing trend. Landlords completed 34 purchases in 2025, up from 30 in 2024. The 12 acquisitions in Q1 2026 represent a strong start to the year, on pace to exceed prior years' totals.

The combination of broad-based buying from smaller landlords and targeted selling from the few institutional holders paints a picture of a market consolidating under the control of local investors who are actively growing their portfolios.

In the first quarter of 2026, landlords played a pivotal role in market liquidity, being a party to 12 of the 30 total SFR transactions, a 40.0% share. This high level of participation indicates that investors are a primary driver of sales activity in Union County.

Transaction activity was dominated by the smallest investors. Landlords in the single-property tier (Tier 01) were responsible for 8 of the 12 investor transactions, showing that market growth is being fueled by new entrants and small-scale players expanding their holdings.

Institutional investors were completely inactive, with zero transactions recorded in Q1. This reinforces the finding that the transactional market is a local affair, with no participation from large, national firms.

Inter-landlord trading appears to be minimal. Of the 8 properties purchased by single-property landlords, only one (12.5%) was acquired from another investor. This low rate suggests that most investors are finding deals from traditional homeowners or off-market sources rather than trading within their own community.

New investors entering the market paid an average of $105,240 per property. This is notably higher than the overall average landlord purchase price of $88,527 for the quarter, which may indicate that experienced investors are finding better deals than newcomers.