Moultrie (IL) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Moultrie County, the real estate investor landscape is dominated by 543 landlords holding a total of 522 single-family residential properties. This represents 14.4% of the total 3,617 SFR properties in the market, indicating a significant investor presence.

Individual investors are the overwhelming majority, owning 400 properties, which accounts for 76.6% of the entire investor portfolio. In contrast, company-owned properties number 124, making up the remaining 23.8%, a clear sign that the market is driven by smaller-scale operators rather than large corporations.

The investor base itself reflects this trend, with 455 individual landlords compared to just 88 company entities. This nearly 5.2-to-1 ratio of individual to company landlords underscores the grassroots nature of real estate investing in the area.

When examining financing, cash is king for Moultrie County investors. A substantial 381 properties are owned free and clear, more than double the 141 properties that are financed. This suggests a fiscally conservative approach and a well-capitalized investor base.

The primary strategy for these investors is clearly rental income. An overwhelming 500 of the 522 properties are designated as rented or non-owner-occupied, confirming that 95.8% of the investor-held SFR stock serves the local rental market.

Investors in Moultrie County consistently purchase properties at a significant discount compared to traditional homeowners. In Q1 2026, the average landlord acquisition price was $114,433, a full 29.7% lower than the $162,774 average paid by homeowners, saving investors $48,341 per transaction.

This pricing advantage is not a recent phenomenon but a persistent market dynamic. Looking back at previous quarters, the discount was even more pronounced. In Q3 2025, landlords achieved a staggering 69.2% discount, paying just $52,000 while homeowners paid $168,735.

The trend of securing properties below the typical market rate holds across all recent periods. In Q2 2025, the discount was 35.9% ($79,488), and in Q1 2025, it was 39.3% ($52,041). This pattern indicates a strategic and effective acquisition approach by local investors.

Historical data shows a significant appreciation from the 2024 average price of $58,971 to the Q1 2026 price of $114,433. However, this is still well below the prices seen during the 2020-2023 boom period, which averaged $138,423.

The data does not provide a breakdown between individual and company prices, but the overall landlord discount suggests a sophisticated understanding of local market values and the ability to find off-market or distressed opportunities unavailable to the average buyer.

In the most recent quarter of activity, Q4 2025, investors purchased 9 out of 44 total SFRs sold in Moultrie County, capturing a 20.5% market share of all purchases. This activity highlights a continued appetite for adding properties to their portfolios.

The purchasing activity was almost entirely driven by small-scale, mom-and-pop landlords. These investors, operating in Tiers 01-04, were responsible for 8 of the 9 acquisitions, representing 88.9% of all landlord buying activity.

New entrants were a significant force, with the single-property tier alone accounting for 6 properties purchased by 8 different entities. This indicates a healthy influx of new landlords into the market, starting with their first investment property.

Conversely, large-scale institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) were completely inactive, making zero purchases during the quarter. This reinforces the narrative that the local market's growth is fueled by small, independent operators.

The data shows a concentration of buying power at the smallest end of the spectrum, with landlords in the 1-10 property range dominating acquisitions and shaping market dynamics for the quarter.

The ownership structure in Moultrie County is overwhelmingly dominated by small, local investors. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04), control a massive 92.1% of all investor-owned single-family homes.

The smallest investors have the largest footprint. Landlords owning just a single property (Tier 01) hold 351 homes, which alone constitutes 64.9% of the entire investor-owned housing stock. This highlights the critical role of first-time and small-scale investors in providing rental housing.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) represent a very small fraction of the market, with holdings scattered across a few tiers, such as the 11-20 property tier which accounts for 7.2% of ownership.

The presence of institutional capital is practically non-existent. Large institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) own just 2 properties in the county, amounting to a mere 0.4% share. This finding directly counters any narrative of a corporate takeover of local housing.

This distribution reveals a highly decentralized market where ownership is spread across hundreds of individual operators, rather than concentrated in the hands of a few large firms. Analysis of this market structure can be further explored in detailed market reports.

While individual investors dominate the Moultrie County market overall, a clear pattern emerges when analyzing ownership type by portfolio size. Individuals control the vast majority of smaller portfolios, owning 291 of the 351 single-property investments (82.7%) and 26 of the 31 two-property portfolios (83.9%).

A significant shift occurs in the 6-10 property tier (Tier 04). At this level, companies become the majority owners for the first time, holding 15 properties (53.6%) compared to 13 properties (46.4%) held by individuals. This tier represents a critical crossover point where investment strategies appear to professionalize under a corporate structure.

This trend suggests that as landlords scale their operations beyond five properties, they are more likely to incorporate for liability protection, financing advantages, or operational efficiency.

Interestingly, the pattern reverts in the next tier up (11-20 properties), where individuals once again hold the majority with 26 properties (66.7%). This may indicate that even as portfolios grow, many local investors prefer to maintain personal ownership structures.

The data illustrates a nuanced market where the path to scaling is not exclusively corporate. Individuals remain a powerful force even in mid-sized portfolios, a key insight for anyone analyzing market dynamics with a property data API.

Investor activity in Moultrie County is not evenly distributed but is highly concentrated in specific geographic pockets. The zip code 61937 stands out as the primary hub, containing 100 investor-owned SFRs, which is nearly 20% of the entire investor portfolio in the county.

The 61937 zip code also leads in market penetration, with an investor ownership rate of 20.3%. This means more than one in every five single-family homes in this area is investor-owned, a rate substantially higher than the county-wide average of 14.4%.

Other areas of notable concentration include 61914 with 66 properties (12.9% rate) and 61911 with 52 properties (17.7% rate). Together, the top three zip codes hold 218 properties, or 41.8% of all investor-owned homes in the county.

This geographic clustering suggests that investors are targeting specific neighborhoods, likely due to factors like strong rental demand, attractive property prices, or desirable community features. The data clearly shows a strategy of focusing investment capital rather than spreading it thinly across the region.

For stakeholders looking to understand market opportunities, identifying these high-concentration zones is crucial. Both the highest count (61937) and highest percentage (61937, 61911) regions point to the same core areas of investor interest.

Transaction data reveals that landlords in Moultrie County are in a sustained accumulation phase, consistently buying more properties than they sell. In Q1 2026, they demonstrated strong bullish sentiment by purchasing 12 properties while only selling 2, resulting in a 6-to-1 buy/sell ratio and a net gain of 10 properties.

This is not a short-term trend but a consistent, multi-year pattern of portfolio growth. Throughout the full year of 2025, landlords bought 26 properties and sold 10, maintaining a positive net acquisition of 16 properties and a 2.6x buy/sell ratio.

The pattern was even stronger in 2024, when investors purchased 23 properties and sold only 6, for a net gain of 17 properties and a buy/sell ratio of 3.83x. This history shows a clear, long-term strategy of building holdings in the area.

The data for institutional investors (1000+ tier) shows no transaction activity, reinforcing that the market's momentum is entirely driven by smaller, independent landlords who are actively growing their portfolios.

The consistent net-buyer position signals strong confidence in the local rental market's future performance and suggests that investors see continued opportunity for growth in Moultrie County.

In Q1 2026, landlords played a significant role in market liquidity, participating in 12 of the 60 total SFR transactions, which translates to a 20.0% market share. This activity level confirms their status as a major force in the local real estate ecosystem.

Transaction volume was heavily concentrated among the smallest investors. Landlords in the single-property tier (Tier 01) were responsible for 8 transactions, or two-thirds of all landlord activity. This shows that new market entrants are the most active buyers.

Interestingly, these new investors paid the highest prices. The average purchase price for single-property landlords was $133,042. In contrast, larger investors in the 6-10 and 11-20 property tiers paid far less, at $47,000 and $33,000 respectively, suggesting different acquisition strategies or target asset types.

A notable finding from the quarter is the complete absence of inter-landlord trading. In every single transaction, the property was acquired from a non-landlord, indicating that investors are focused on bringing new housing stock into the rental market rather than trading existing rental properties among themselves.

The transaction data paints a clear picture: the market is being fueled by new capital from first-time investors who are willing to pay a premium to enter the market, while more experienced investors secure lower-priced assets.