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

In Union County, IL, investors hold a significant 11.0% share of the single-family residential market, owning 462 out of 4,209 total SFR properties.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly dominated by individuals rather than corporations. Individual landlords own 431 properties, constituting 93.3% of the entire investor portfolio, while companies own the remaining 45 properties (9.7%).

This individual dominance is also reflected in the entity count, where 514 of the 554 total landlords are individuals (92.8%), reinforcing the local, small-scale nature of real estate investment in the county.

Investors in this market show a strong preference for all-cash acquisitions. A remarkable 384 properties (83.1%) are owned outright without financing, compared to just 78 properties that carry a mortgage. This suggests a market of financially stable investors who can move quickly on deals.

The portfolio's primary purpose is generating rental income, with 442 of the 462 properties (95.7%) being non-owner-occupied. This high concentration underscores the importance of the rental market in Union County's housing ecosystem.

Investors in Union County demonstrated a consistent ability to acquire properties well below the prices paid by traditional homeowners. In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $97,531, which is $30,743 less than the homeowner average of $128,274—a significant 24.0% discount.

This deep discount was not a one-time event; it represents a persistent trend throughout the year. The price gap was even more pronounced in previous quarters, with landlords achieving an 85.4% discount in Q3 ($23,250 vs. $159,417) and a 73.3% discount in Q2 ($37,500 vs. $140,207).

The massive and consistent price gap suggests that investors are not competing for the same properties as traditional homebuyers. Instead, they appear to be specializing in acquiring distressed properties, off-market deals, or assets requiring significant repairs, which are typically purchased at a steep discount.

Despite the discounts, average acquisition prices for investors have seen upward momentum since the pandemic era. The average price paid in 2025 ($72,481) marks an 8.9% increase from the 2020-2023 average of $66,589, indicating a general rise in asset values even in the distressed segment of the market.

Comparing Q4 2025 to Q4 2024 shows a pricing shift, with the average landlord acquisition price decreasing from $121,833 to $97,531. This could signal a change in the type of properties being acquired or increased negotiating power for buyers in the current market.

Investor activity accounted for a significant portion of the Union County housing market in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 11 of the 47 total SFR properties sold, a market share of 23.4%.

The acquisition activity was dominated by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) were responsible for 9 of the 11 purchases, representing 81.8% of all investor buying activity.

In sharp contrast, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) had no presence in the purchasing market this quarter, acquiring zero properties. This highlights the hyper-local, non-corporate nature of real estate investment in the area.

New entrants are a key feature of the market, with 7 new entities purchasing their first investment property in Q4. These single-property landlords alone bought 5 properties, making up 45.5% of all investor acquisitions for the quarter.

Mid-size landlords showed minimal activity, with an investor in the 11-20 property tier and one in the 21-50 tier each purchasing a single property. This further reinforces that growth is concentrated at the smallest end of the investor spectrum.

The investor ownership structure in Union County is overwhelmingly dominated by small, local landlords. 'Mom-and-pop' investors, defined as those owning 1 to 10 properties, collectively own 96.6% of all investor-held SFRs.

First-time or single-property investors form the bedrock of the market. This group (Tier 01) owns 357 properties, which accounts for 75.5% of the entire investor portfolio, demonstrating that the barrier to entry is low and ownership is highly fragmented.

The next tiers show a steep drop-off in ownership concentration. Landlords with 3-5 properties hold 9.9% of the portfolio (47 properties), and those with 2 properties hold 8.0% (38 properties).

The presence of large-scale investors is virtually non-existent. Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1,000+ properties) own just 4 properties, a mere 0.8% of the investor market. Even large regional investors (101-1,000 properties) hold only 9 properties (1.9%).

This distribution definitively proves that the narrative of large corporations buying up housing does not apply to Union County. The market is defined by its granular, community-level ownership structure.

In Union County, individual investors maintain majority ownership across all portfolio tiers, a clear sign that corporate investment has not penetrated the market at any scale. Individuals own 93.4% of single-property portfolios (339 properties) and 89.5% of two-property portfolios (34 properties).

Unlike in larger metropolitan areas, there is no 'crossover point' where company ownership surpasses individual ownership. Even among the largest portfolios in the county (101-1,000 properties), individuals still hold the majority with 5 properties (55.6%) compared to companies' 4 properties (44.4%).

Company ownership is most concentrated, yet still a minority, in the 3-5 property tier, where they hold 7 properties (14.0%). In the 6-10 property tier, 100% of the 15 properties are owned by individuals.

This data reinforces that real estate investment in Union County is a personal endeavor rather than a corporate one. The market is characterized by local residents and small-scale operators managing their own properties.

The lack of a corporate ladder in portfolio sizes indicates that investors in this area tend to operate under their own names regardless of how many properties they accumulate, or they simply do not scale up to sizes where incorporation becomes common.

Geographic analysis within Union County reveals distinct pockets of investor concentration. By sheer volume, the 62906 zip code is the epicenter of investment, containing 192 landlord-owned SFR properties.

However, the highest market penetration by investors is found elsewhere. The 62961 zip code has the highest rate of investor ownership at 44.4%, meaning nearly half the SFR housing stock is investor-owned, although this represents just 4 properties.

Other areas with high investor saturation include the 62923 zip code with a 33.3% ownership rate and the 62939 zip code at 27.3%. These high percentages in smaller areas suggest investors are targeting specific neighborhoods or towns within the county.

There is a clear distinction between where investors own the most properties (count) and where they control the largest share of the market (percentage). The area with the most properties, 62906, has a relatively modest investor ownership rate of 9.5%.

This geographic distribution pattern indicates that investors employ different strategies across the county, with some focusing on acquiring volume in larger population centers and others focusing on dominating smaller, possibly more lucrative, niche markets.

Landlords in Union County are firmly in an accumulation phase, consistently buying far more properties than they sell. In Q4 2025, they were strong net buyers, with 16 purchases compared to only 2 sales, resulting in a net gain of 14 properties to the rental stock.

This aggressive buying posture is a long-term trend, not a quarterly anomaly. For the full year of 2025, investors have a buy-to-sell ratio of over 4-to-1, with 29 acquisitions and only 7 dispositions. The prior year, 2024, showed a similar pattern with 36 buys and 10 sells.

The data shows no transactions for institutional investors (1,000+ properties), confirming their inactivity in this market. All buying and selling is being driven by the smaller, local landlords who dominate the county.

The consistent net-buyer status signals strong confidence in the local rental market. Investors are choosing to expand their portfolios rather than divest, suggesting they anticipate stable rental income and property value appreciation.

This sustained acquisition trend contributes directly to the growth of the rental housing supply in Union County, driven entirely by the activity of mom-and-pop investors.

In Q4 2025, landlords played a substantial role in market liquidity, participating in 16 of the 70 total SFR transactions, a share of 22.9%.

A striking pricing disparity emerged among different investor tiers. New, single-property landlords paid the highest average price at $170,000 per property. In contrast, small-to-medium landlords in the 3-5 property tier acquired properties for an average of just $11,833, suggesting they are targeting highly distressed assets or land parcels.

The most expensive purchase was made by a mid-size investor (11-20 properties), who paid $230,000 for a single property, indicating a focus on higher-quality assets within that specific tier.

Significantly, 100% of investor acquisitions came from the open market rather than from other landlords. The data shows that 0% of transactions were inter-landlord trades, meaning investors are buying from homeowners or banks, not from each other.

This lack of inter-landlord activity suggests an immature or illiquid secondary market for investment properties. Investors in Union County appear to be focused on sourcing new inventory from outside the existing rental pool rather than trading assets among themselves.