Johnson (IL) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investor ownership in Johnson County's SFR market comprises 192 properties, accounting for 6.4% of the total 2,999 SFRs. This represents a modest but notable footprint within the local housing market.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly dominated by 234 individual landlords, who own 180 properties, or 93.8% of the investor-owned housing stock. In contrast, 22 company landlords own the remaining 20 properties (10.4%).

A significant financial characteristic of this market is the preference for cash acquisitions, with 167 properties owned outright compared to only 25 that are financed. This indicates a low reliance on leverage among local investors.

The portfolio is heavily geared towards generating rental income, as evidenced by the 177 properties identified as rented or non-owner-occupied. This high concentration underscores a clear business focus on rental housing.

The ratio of landlords to properties (256 landlords for 192 properties) reveals that the market is composed almost entirely of investors with very small portfolios, reinforcing the 'mom-and-pop' nature of ownership in the county.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Johnson County demonstrated a remarkable ability to acquire properties at a deep discount, paying an average of just $29,833. This was 90.0% less than the $299,051 average paid by traditional homeowners, a massive price gap of $269,218.

This pricing advantage is not consistent, highlighting an opportunistic purchasing strategy. For instance, in Q1 2025, landlords paid a 6.5% premium over homeowners ($184,167 vs. $172,984), suggesting they will pay more for specific assets when necessary.

The quarterly data reveals inconsistent purchasing volume, with zero landlord acquisitions recorded in Q2 and Q3 of 2025. This pattern points to a patient, deal-driven approach rather than a continuous acquisition strategy.

Comparing prices over a longer period, the average landlord acquisition price during the 2020-2023 boom was $147,808. The extreme low of $29,833 in the most recent quarter signals a focus on significantly lower-value properties.

The dramatic fluctuations in the landlord-homeowner price gap—from a 19.6% discount in Q3 to a 90.0% discount in Q4—are likely amplified by the very low transaction volumes, where a single distressed sale can heavily skew the quarterly average.

Investor activity accounted for 10.0% of the Johnson County SFR market in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 4 out of the 40 total homes sold.

The entirety of this purchasing activity was driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) acquired 3 of the 4 properties, representing 75.0% of all investor buying.

A single new landlord entered the market, acquiring their first investment property and falling into the Single-property tier. This demonstrates slow, organic growth at the smallest end of the investor spectrum.

Institutional investors (Tier 09) were completely absent from the purchasing landscape, acquiring zero properties and making up 0.0% of Q4 landlord activity. This underscores the purely local, small-scale nature of the investor market here.

The purchasing was distributed evenly across small tiers, with one property each being bought by investors in the 1-property, 2-property, 6-10 property, and 11-20 property tiers. This shows a breadth of activity among existing small landlords alongside new entrants.

The investor ownership structure in Johnson County is definitively characterized by small-scale landlords. Mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04, owning 1-10 properties) collectively own 98.5% of all investor-held SFRs.

The market concentration at the smallest level is profound, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone accounting for 165 properties, or 82.9% of the entire investor portfolio. This highlights the hyper-fragmented nature of ownership.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) represent a negligible portion of the market, with the 11-20 and 21-50 property tiers each accounting for just 1.0% and 0.5% of holdings, respectively.

There is a complete absence of large-scale institutional ownership in the county. Investors in Tier 09 (1,000+ properties) own zero SFRs, indicating this market is not a target for major corporate landlords.

The data firmly counters the narrative of corporate consolidation in housing for this region. Instead, it paints a picture of a market where rental properties are overwhelmingly managed by local, small-portfolio individuals.

Individual investors are the primary owners across nearly every portfolio size in Johnson County, reinforcing their market dominance. In the largest tier by property count (Single-property), individuals own 159 of the properties, a 91.9% share.

Corporate ownership remains minimal even as portfolio sizes increase. Companies hold only 16.7% of properties in the two-property tier and just 5.9% in the 3-5 property tier.

A crossover point where companies become the majority owner does not exist in this market. The closest is the 6-10 property tier, where ownership is evenly split with one individual and one company investor, each holding 50.0% of the properties in that tier.

This pattern shows that even as landlords expand their portfolios locally, the growth comes predominantly from individuals rather than a transition to corporate structures.

The data illustrates a clear market structure where the path to scaling a rental portfolio in Johnson County is one pursued almost exclusively by individual investors, not corporate entities.

Investor holdings in Johnson County are not evenly distributed, showing clear concentration in specific zip codes. The zip code 62939 contains the highest absolute number of investor-owned properties, with 80 homes held by landlords.

In terms of market penetration, zip code 62972 stands out with the highest rate of investor ownership at 14.0%. This indicates that more than one in every eight SFRs in this area is an investment property.

There is a distinction between the leader in raw count and the leader in percentage. While 62939 has the most units (80), its ownership rate is a more modest 7.5%. This highlights different types of market concentration within the county.

The third most concentrated area is zip code 62922, which has an investor ownership rate of 11.3%, further demonstrating that investor focus is localized to a few key areas.

Data for several other zip codes was incomplete, but the available information points to a clear strategy of focusing acquisitions within a select few postal codes rather than a broad, county-wide approach.

Landlords in Johnson County have consistently been net accumulators of property. In the most recent quarter, Q4 2025, they were net buyers, acquiring 4 properties while only selling 3.

This pattern of accumulation holds true for longer timeframes. Across the full year of 2025, investors purchased 9 homes and sold 4, resulting in a net gain of 5 properties for their portfolios.

The trend was also evident in the prior year. In 2024, landlords bought 13 properties and sold 8, again finishing as net buyers with a gain of 5 properties.

This steady, positive net acquisition rate demonstrates a long-term confidence in the local rental market among small investors, who are continuously expanding their holdings.

Institutional investors (1,000+ properties) recorded zero buy or sell transactions in any of the observed periods, confirming their complete lack of activity and influence in this market's transaction flow.

In Q4 2025, landlords were involved in 4 of the 64 total SFR transactions in Johnson County, capturing a 6.2% share of market activity. This shows a relatively small but active investor presence.

Pricing strategies varied significantly by tier, with the newest market entrant paying the least. The single-property tier investor acquired a home for just $19,666, significantly lower than the two-property tier buyer at $40,000.

There was no inter-landlord trading during the quarter. All 4 properties acquired by investors were purchased from non-landlords, meaning 0.0% of acquisitions came from another investor. This suggests landlords are sourcing deals primarily from the homeowner market.

Transaction activity was limited to mom-and-pop and small-medium tiers, with 3 of the 4 transactions conducted by investors owning 1-10 properties. Institutional investors had zero transactions.

The data portrays a market where small investors are not trading properties amongst themselves but are instead competing in the broader market to add to their portfolios, often at very low price points.