Scioto (OH) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

Investors hold a significant 24.3% of the single-family residential market in Scioto County, OH, totaling 4,942 properties out of 20,348 available homes. This indicates a substantial portion of the housing stock is utilized for rental income or investment purposes.

Individual investors are the definitive force in the market, owning 3,992 properties, which constitutes 80.8% of all landlord-owned homes. In contrast, company-owned properties number just 985, or 19.9% of the investor portfolio, challenging the narrative of corporate dominance in the local rental scene.

A defining characteristic of Scioto County's investor market is its reliance on cash. An overwhelming 4,573 properties were acquired with cash, compared to just 369 that are financed. This 12-to-1 ratio of cash-to-financed properties suggests investors have high liquidity and low leverage, potentially making the market more resilient to interest rate fluctuations.

The entity count further underscores the market's structure, with 4,622 individual landlords compared to only 476 company entities. This nearly 10-to-1 ratio of individual to corporate landlords shows that real estate investing here is primarily a pursuit of private citizens rather than large firms.

The portfolio is almost entirely focused on rentals, with 4,820 of the 4,942 investor-owned properties being non-owner-occupied. This high concentration confirms that the vast majority of investor activity directly supplies the local rental market.

Investors in Scioto County demonstrate a powerful pricing advantage, acquiring properties in Q1 2026 for an average of $97,319, a staggering 43.6% less than the $172,476 paid by traditional homeowners. This equates to a cash discount of $75,157 per property, highlighting a clear divergence in acquisition strategy and cost basis.

This price gap is not a one-time anomaly but a persistent market feature. In Q3 2025, landlords paid 33.4% less ($136,487 vs. $204,997), and in Q2 2025, the discount was an even more dramatic 57.2% ($86,062 vs. $201,088). This pattern suggests investors consistently target undervalued assets or possess superior negotiation and deal-sourcing capabilities.

While prices for all buyers have fluctuated, the investor's ability to purchase well below the typical homeowner price remains constant. This deep discount allows for potentially higher capitalization rates and return on investment, making the area attractive for cash-flow focused buyers.

The average landlord acquisition price has shown volatility, with a Year 2024 average of $127,145 compared to a 2020-2023 average of $92,390. The Q1 2026 price of $97,319 sits between these periods, indicating that while prices are up from the pandemic era, investors are still finding deals well below recent highs.

This consistent ability to acquire properties far below the market rate for homeowners is the most critical financial dynamic in the Scioto County investment landscape. It enables profitability and sustains investor interest even in a fluctuating market.

Investor activity accounted for a substantial portion of the market in the last quarter, with landlords purchasing 61 of the 193 total SFRs sold, a market share of 31.6%. This high level of activity underscores the significant role investors play in local housing transactions.

The market's new entrants and small players are the primary drivers of acquisition volume. New single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone purchased 37 properties, representing 57.8% of all investor acquisitions for the quarter.

Combining all small-scale investors, mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) were responsible for 57 of the 61 total landlord purchases. This 89.1% share demonstrates that the market's transactional velocity is almost entirely dictated by smaller, local investors.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) had a negligible impact, acquiring only one property, or 1.6% of the investor total. This highlights a market devoid of significant large-scale corporate acquisition programs.

The data clearly shows a bottom-heavy market structure where growth comes from new and small investors. The entry of 46 new single-property entities in a single quarter signals a healthy and accessible market for individuals starting their investment journey.

The ownership structure in Scioto County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning between 1 and 10 properties, collectively hold 93.0% of all investor-owned SFRs. This concentration reveals a deeply fragmented market reliant on individual owners.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the bedrock of this market, owning 3,543 properties, which alone accounts for 69.7% of the entire investor portfolio. This signifies that the typical landlord in Scioto County is not a mogul but an individual with a single rental property.

The presence of institutional capital is almost nonexistent. Investors in the 1,000+ property tier (Tier 09) own only 7 properties in total, a minuscule 0.1% of the investor market. This finding directly counters the widespread narrative of institutional investors taking over local housing markets.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) also have a limited presence, collectively owning just 350 properties, or 6.8% of the investor portfolio. The data shows a steep drop-off in ownership after the 10-property mark, reinforcing the market's small-scale character.

This distribution has remained stable, indicating a long-term pattern of individual ownership rather than a recent trend. The market structure suggests a high barrier to entry for large-scale consolidation and favors investors who can manage smaller, dispersed portfolios.

A distinct crossover point exists in Scioto County where company ownership surpasses individual ownership. This transition occurs in the 6-10 property tier, where companies own 50.7% of the properties. This signals the portfolio size at which investors typically formalize their operations under a corporate structure.

For smaller portfolios, individual ownership is the standard. Individuals own 92.6% of single-property holdings and 76.8% of two-property holdings. This dominance reflects the entry-level, personal nature of smaller-scale market reports show is common.

As portfolios scale, the shift to corporate ownership becomes more pronounced. In the 11-20 property tier, companies own a commanding 68.5% of the 165 properties. This suggests that managing larger portfolios often correlates with the legal and financial advantages of incorporation.

This pattern reveals two different types of investors operating in the same market: individuals who dominate the 1-5 property space and more professionally structured companies that control the 6+ property segment.

Understanding this crossover is key to analyzing investor behavior. It indicates that as an investor's holdings grow beyond five properties, the operational complexity and financial scale often necessitate a move from personal ownership to a more formal business entity.

Geographic analysis reveals that investor ownership in Scioto County is not evenly distributed but is instead highly concentrated in specific zip codes. The 45662 zip code is the epicenter of activity by volume, containing 2,421 investor-owned properties, which represents 27.5% of its total housing.

While 45662 leads in raw numbers, other zip codes exhibit far more intense investor saturation. For instance, in 45630, landlords own 68.4% of the properties, indicating a market where renters likely outnumber homeowners significantly. Similarly, 45677 has a 50.0% investor ownership rate.

This distinction between high-volume and high-percentage areas is critical. High-volume zip codes like 45662 represent the largest pools of rental properties, while high-percentage areas like 45630 signal markets that are fundamentally defined and shaped by investor activity.

The data quality for some zip codes (45636, 45640, 45659) shows no properties, which may indicate either very low population density or gaps in the available assessor data. The focus remains on the areas with robust data, which show clear patterns of concentration.

For investors, this geographic breakdown is crucial for a property search, highlighting specific sub-markets with either high rental density or potential for new acquisitions. It shows where to find established rental markets versus areas with different ownership dynamics.

The overall investor community in Scioto County is in a strong accumulation phase. In Q1 2026, landlords purchased 76 properties while selling only 23, resulting in a net gain of 53 properties and a buy-to-sell ratio of 3.3-to-1. This indicates strong confidence and a clear strategy of portfolio expansion.

This net-buyer behavior is a long-term trend, not a recent development. In 2025, investors bought 295 properties and sold 122 (a 2.4x ratio), and in 2024, they bought 316 and sold only 78 (a 4.1x ratio). The market has consistently absorbed more properties into investor portfolios than it has released.

A dramatic divergence appears when isolating institutional investors (1,000+ properties). In Q1 2026, this cohort was perfectly neutral, buying one property and selling one. This follows a mixed but generally flat or negative trend, including being net sellers in Q2 2025.

The contrast is stark: while thousands of small, local landlords are actively growing their holdings, the handful of large institutional players are either stagnant or trimming their small positions. This reinforces that market growth is driven from the bottom up.

This transactional data confirms the findings from the ownership tiers. The energy, capital, and growth in Scioto County's investor market come from mom-and-pop investors, who are consistently and confidently expanding their portfolios year after year.

Investors were a major force in the Q1 transaction market, involved in 76 of the 245 total SFR sales, representing a 31.0% share. This level of participation demonstrates their integral role in market liquidity and price setting.

Transaction activity was heavily concentrated among smaller investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were responsible for 68 of the 76 investor transactions, while the single institutional transaction accounted for just over 1% of investor activity.

A fascinating pricing pattern emerges by tier, revealing different acquisition strategies. New single-property landlords paid the most, at an average of $101,174. At the other extreme, the institutional investor paid just $50,000, a 50.6% discount compared to the smallest buyers. This suggests large players target deeply distressed or off-market assets not typically accessible to new entrants.

Inter-landlord trading is most common among established small-to-mid-size investors. Landlords in the 3-5 property tier acquired 50.0% of their new properties from other landlords. In contrast, new single-property investors sourced only 8.7% of their purchases from other landlords, indicating they primarily buy from homeowners.

This shows a market with distinct segments: new investors buying from the general public at higher prices, and established investors trading properties among themselves, often at different price points. The institutional player operates in its own sphere, securing the lowest-cost assets.