Perry (TN) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

Investor ownership has a significant footprint in Perry County, with landlords holding 919 single-family residential properties, which constitutes 40.1% of the county's entire SFR market.

The ownership structure is overwhelmingly composed of individuals rather than corporations. Individual investors own 861 properties, making up 93.7% of the investor-owned housing stock, while companies own the remaining 68 properties (7.4%).

Cash is the preferred method of ownership, with 755 properties owned outright compared to 164 that carry financing. This 4.6-to-1 ratio of cash-to-financed properties indicates that local investors operate with low leverage.

The portfolio is heavily geared towards rentals, as 913 of the 919 properties (99.3%) are non-owner-occupied. This confirms that the assets are actively managed as part of a real estate investing strategy.

The landlord base itself mirrors this pattern, with 1,168 individual landlords compared to just 54 company entities. This highlights a market built on local, small-scale investment rather than large-scale corporate operations.

During Q1 2026, landlords acquired properties at an average price of $324,392, which was $10,972 less than the $335,364 paid by traditional homeowners. This represents a 3.3% discount for investors.

However, this pricing advantage is not consistent and shows extreme volatility in prior quarters. In 2025, the differential ranged from landlords paying a 19.8% premium ($37,906 more) in Q2 to securing a staggering 56.3% discount ($134,040 less) in Q3.

This volatility suggests that in a market with few transactions, the average price is highly sensitive to the specific nature of individual deals rather than a stable market-wide trend.

A sharp rise in property values is evident, as the Q1 2026 average landlord acquisition price of $324,392 is more than double the average price recorded for all of 2024 ($156,331) and 2025 ($171,254).

The transaction data for these periods is sparse, indicating these averages are based on a limited number of sales, which requires caution when interpreting long-term trends.

Investor activity was highly pronounced in Q1, with landlords purchasing 8 of the 17 total SFRs sold in Perry County, capturing a substantial 47.1% market share.

The entirety of this purchasing activity originated from the smallest investors. All 8 acquisitions were made by landlords in the single-property tier (Tier 01), indicating that market growth is fueled by new entrants.

These 8 property purchases were attributed to 11 distinct entities, which suggests that co-ownership or partnerships are common among new investors in the area.

Institutional investors with portfolios of over 1,000 properties were completely inactive, recording zero purchases in Q1 and reinforcing the grassroots nature of the local investment scene.

This concentration of activity at the entry-level of the market shows a low barrier to entry and an environment favorable to first-time landlords using a property search to find deals.

The investor landscape in Perry County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale operators. Landlords with portfolios of 1-10 properties, known as mom-and-pops, control 98.4% of all investor-owned SFRs.

Ownership is even more concentrated at the very bottom of the market. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone account for 834 properties, representing an 88.6% share of the entire investor portfolio.

In stark contrast, mid-size investors (11-1,000 properties) have a negligible footprint, owning just 1.6% of properties. Institutional investors (Tier 09) are entirely absent from this market, holding zero properties.

This distribution reveals a highly fragmented market structure, primarily composed of individuals who own one or two rental properties rather than a consolidated professionalized industry.

The data did not provide a breakdown of acquisition prices by tier, preventing an analysis of whether larger investors pay more or less than their smaller counterparts.

Individual investors are the foundational owner type across every portfolio size in Perry County. They own 95.4% of properties in single-property portfolios and still command an 80.0% majority in the 6-10 property tier.

Unlike in larger metropolitan areas, there is no crossover tier in this market where corporate ownership becomes the dominant structure. The investor base remains primarily individuals even as portfolios grow.

While individuals dominate, there is a clear trend of increasing incorporation with portfolio size. The share of company-owned properties grows from just 4.6% in the single-property tier to 20.0% in the 6-10 property tier.

This pattern suggests that as local investors scale their holdings, they are more likely to adopt formal business structures like LLCs for liability and management purposes.

The analysis is limited to smaller portfolio sizes, as there is no significant presence of investors holding more than 10 properties in the provided data.

The highest volume of investor-owned properties within Perry County is concentrated in the 37096 zip code, which is home to 594 units.

However, the most saturated market is the 37033 zip code, where investors own 68.8% of all single-family homes, indicating an area heavily dominated by rental properties.

This highlights a key distinction between volume and penetration. The area with the largest number of investor rentals (37096) has a significantly lower ownership rate (38.5%) than smaller pockets with higher saturation.

High investor penetration is a common theme across the county, with three of the top five zip codes showing investor ownership rates of 39.5% or higher.

A data anomaly was noted for zip code 38485, which appeared in top lists but lacked specific property counts, suggesting a potential reporting gap for that area.

Landlords in Perry County are consistently growing their portfolios, acting as strong net buyers. In Q1 2026, they acquired 11 properties for every 1 they sold, continuing a multi-year accumulation trend.

This behavior was even more pronounced in previous years, with a buy-to-sell ratio of 10.8x in 2024 (65 buys vs. 6 sells) and 7.1x in 2025 (57 buys vs. 8 sells).

While still decisively in acquisition mode, the overall transaction velocity has slowed. The 11 purchases in Q1 2026 suggest an annual pace that is below the levels seen in 2024 and 2025.

Institutional investors logged no transaction activity in any period observed. Their absence from both buying and selling underscores that the market's liquidity and growth are driven entirely by smaller players.

The data did not include metrics on inter-landlord trading or comparative buy-and-sell prices, which limits analysis of market churn and potential profit margins.

Investors played a pivotal role in the Q1 market, participating in 44.0% of all SFR transactions in Perry County. This high share of activity underscores their importance to local market liquidity.

All 11 of these transactions were driven by single-property (Tier 01) landlords. This points to a market where activity is dominated by new investors entering or small investors making incremental additions.

A critical insight is that 0% of these landlord purchases were acquired from other landlords. This indicates that investors are sourcing their deals directly from homeowners or new inventory, not from portfolio churn within the investor community.

The average purchase price for these entry-level investors was $324,392. With no institutional activity, there is no price comparison to be made with larger buyers.

The lack of landlord-to-landlord sales suggests a market where investors tend to buy and hold, rather than flip properties to other investors.