Ellsworth (KS) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investors have a remarkably strong presence in Ellsworth County, holding 731 single-family residential properties, which constitutes 35.9% of the total 2,036 SFRs in the market.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly composed of individual landlords rather than corporations. Individuals own 545 properties (74.6% of the investor portfolio), while companies own the remaining 192 properties (26.3%).

A unique characteristic of this market is its complete reliance on cash financing. All 731 investor-owned SFRs were acquired with cash, with no properties currently financed, indicating a market of well-capitalized or long-term-hold investors.

The portfolio is clearly geared towards rental income, with 714 of the 731 properties actively rented. This high rental penetration underscores the business focus of property ownership in the county.

The entity count further highlights the dominance of small investors. There are 655 distinct individual landlords compared to just 127 company landlords, a ratio of over 5 to 1.

Analysis of acquisition pricing is not possible for the recent period, as there were no recorded landlord or traditional homeowner purchases in Q4 2025.

The lack of sales extends back through the year, with zero landlord acquisitions recorded for Q3 2025 and Q2 2025 as well.

This absence of recent transactional data suggests a highly stable and illiquid market where properties are seldom traded.

Consequently, a price gap analysis between landlords and traditional homeowners cannot be performed for the current quarter.

Historical data from the 2020-2023 period also shows zero landlord acquisitions, reinforcing the long-term pattern of low transaction volume in Ellsworth County.

The fourth quarter of 2025 saw a complete halt in market activity, with zero single-family homes purchased by any buyer type, including landlords, in Ellsworth County.

As a result, landlords' market share of purchases for the quarter was 0.0%, a clear indicator of a frozen real estate market.

Activity was nonexistent across all investor tiers. Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) made no purchases, accounting for 0.0% of the nonexistent landlord activity.

Similarly, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) were also inactive, with zero properties acquired in Q4.

The lack of transactions means no new single-property landlords (Tier 01) entered the Ellsworth County market during this period.

The investor market in Ellsworth County is fundamentally driven by small-scale landlords. Mom-and-pop investors, owning between 1 and 10 properties, collectively hold 685 SFRs, representing 92.1% of the entire investor portfolio.

First-time or single-holding landlords are the bedrock of the market, with the '1 property' tier alone accounting for 501 properties, or 67.3% of all investor-owned homes.

Ownership concentration dissipates quickly in larger tiers. Landlords with 2 properties hold 9.3% of the stock, while those with 3-5 properties hold 11.7%.

Mid-size investors (11-50 properties) represent a small fraction of the market, collectively owning just 59 properties or 8.0% of the total.

There is no presence of large-scale institutional capital in Ellsworth County, as the '1,000+ properties' tier holds 0.0% of the investor-owned housing.

A clear ownership pattern emerges when segmenting by owner type and portfolio size. Individuals are the dominant force in smaller tiers, owning 411 single-property holdings (81.1%) and 53 two-property holdings (76.8%).

The balance of power shifts decisively in the mid-size category. In the 11-20 property tier, companies own 30 of the 37 properties, an 81.1% majority, marking the crossover point where corporate ownership prevails.

This trend suggests that while individuals form the broad base of the market, scaling a portfolio beyond 10 properties in Ellsworth County is typically done under a corporate structure.

Even in the smaller tiers, companies maintain a notable foothold, owning 18.9% of single-property portfolios and 23.2% of two-property portfolios.

Due to the complete lack of recent sales activity, it is not possible to analyze or compare the acquisition prices between individual and company investors within any tier.

Investor ownership in Ellsworth County is not evenly distributed, showing significant concentration in a few key zip codes.

The zip code 67439 holds the largest number of investor-owned homes at 228, which translates to a 23.6% investor ownership rate.

However, other zip codes exhibit far higher saturation. In 67490, investors own 177 properties, making up 51.8% of the area's SFR housing stock.

The highest rate of investor penetration is found in 67444, where landlords own 65.1% of all single-family homes, indicating that nearly two-thirds of the housing is investor-owned.

This pattern of high ownership rates in specific locales, such as 67450 (45.3%) and 67464 (50.0%), reveals a targeted strategy where investors dominate small, specific communities within the county.

Historical transaction data for landlords in Ellsworth County is entirely absent, which is a significant finding in itself. This points to a buy-and-hold market rather than one characterized by active trading.

The lack of recorded buy and sell activity prevents any analysis of market trends, such as whether landlords are net buyers or sellers over time.

Similarly, there is no data on inter-landlord transactions, suggesting that properties, once acquired by an investor, tend to remain within their portfolio for the long term.

This pattern holds true for both the overall landlord market and the institutional tier, which has no presence or transactional history in the county.

The market's behavior is one of extreme stability and low liquidity, with ownership being static rather than fluid.

Q4 2025 was a period of complete market inactivity in Ellsworth County, with zero real estate transactions recorded for single-family homes.

This lack of activity means landlords' share of transactions was 0.0%, reflecting a market that was entirely dormant during the quarter.

No investor tier recorded a purchase or a sale, from single-property owners up to mid-size landlords.

As there were no transactions, analysis of Q4 purchase prices by tier is not possible. There is no data to indicate whether different-sized investors employ different pricing strategies.

Furthermore, the data shows no inter-landlord trading activity, reinforcing the picture of a stable, non-transactional market for the period.