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

Investors hold a significant 17.5% share of the single-family residential market in Union County, totaling 3,445 properties. This reflects a substantial presence of real estate investing activity shaping the local housing landscape.

The ownership structure is overwhelmingly dominated by private individuals rather than corporations. Individual landlords own 3,145 properties, accounting for 91.3% of the investor portfolio, while companies own the remaining 367 properties (10.7%).

A similar pattern exists among landlord entities, where 4,980 individual landlords vastly outnumber the 249 company landlords. This 95.2% to 4.8% split in entity types underscores the fragmented, small-scale nature of the rental market in the county.

The investor portfolio is primarily leveraged, with 2,206 properties (64.0%) carrying financing compared to 1,239 properties (36.0%) owned outright with cash. This indicates a reliance on mortgages to build and scale portfolios.

Nearly the entire investor-owned stock serves as rental housing. A total of 3,375 properties are rented, which constitutes 97.9% of all investor-owned SFRs, highlighting the critical role these landlords play in supplying rental options to the community.

In a surprising reversal of typical market dynamics, landlords in Union County paid significantly more than traditional homeowners in Q1 2026. The average landlord acquisition price was $477,378, a 22.6% premium over the homeowner average of $389,222.

This price gap of $88,156 per property in favor of sellers marks a stark departure from the previous year. In Q1 2025, landlords secured a 3.4% discount, paying $19,819 less than homeowners, which aligns with the national trend of investors finding off-market or distressed deals.

The trend shows landlords have been consistently paying premiums since mid-2025. They paid 7.7% more than homeowners in Q2 2025 and 2.4% more in Q3 2025, but the escalation to a 22.6% premium in Q1 2026 signals intense competition for available inventory.

Despite the recent high premiums, Q1 2026 prices are below the annual averages seen in 2024 ($522,341) and 2025 ($531,613). This suggests that while competition is fierce, the overall market pricing has cooled slightly from its recent peaks.

The significant price appreciation from the 2020-2023 period is clear, with the average acquisition price of $387,287 from that era rising substantially. The current market requires investors to deploy significantly more capital per acquisition.

Investor activity reached a remarkable level in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 64 of the 129 total SFRs sold, capturing 49.6% of the entire market. This high absorption rate indicates strong investor demand and a significant influence on local market dynamics.

The acquisition activity was almost exclusively driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) accounted for 63 of these purchases, representing 98.4% of all investor buying activity.

New entrants and single-property landlords were the most active group, acquiring 61 properties. This segment alone made up 95.3% of all investor purchases, highlighting a continuous influx of new capital from small landlords.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) made no purchases in Q4, showing a complete lack of activity from large-scale buyers in the region. This reinforces the narrative of a market dominated by smaller players.

The data shows a clear concentration of purchasing power at the smallest end of the investor spectrum, with mid-size landlords making only a handful of acquisitions, further emphasizing the fragmented nature of buying activity in Union County.

The distribution of property ownership in Union County is overwhelmingly concentrated among small landlords. Mom-and-pop investors, defined as those owning 1-10 properties, control a staggering 96.0% of all investor-owned SFRs.

First-time investors and single-property landlords form the bedrock of the market, owning 3,050 properties. This single tier accounts for 87.6% of all investor-held housing, demonstrating that the rental market's health is intrinsically tied to these small operators.

The mid-size landlord segment (11-1,000 properties) holds a minor share, collectively owning just 1.9% of the investor portfolio. This indicates a steep drop-off in scale after the 10-property mark.

Despite common narratives about corporate landlords, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) have a very small footprint in the county. They own just 72 properties, representing only 2.1% of the total investor-owned stock, a figure far smaller than the mom-and-pop share.

This ownership structure, with its heavy reliance on small investors, suggests a highly fragmented market that is less susceptible to the strategic shifts of a few large corporations and more reflective of local economic conditions affecting individual owners.

A distinct pattern emerges when analyzing ownership by entity type across different portfolio sizes. Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate smaller portfolios, but a clear crossover to corporate ownership occurs as portfolio sizes increase.

In the entry-level tiers, individuals are the primary owners, holding 95.2% of single-property portfolios and 75.5% of two-property portfolios. This dominance continues up to the 6-10 property tier, where individuals still own 64.6% of the homes.

The critical transition point happens at the 11-20 property tier. Here, the ownership structure flips dramatically, with companies owning 31 of the 32 properties, a 96.9% majority. This indicates that investors scaling beyond 10 properties are highly likely to operate under a corporate entity.

This crossover from individual to company ownership highlights a professionalization threshold. Investors managing larger portfolios often use corporate structures for liability protection and operational efficiency, a trend clearly visible in Union County's assessor data.

Even with this clear crossover, the vast majority of all investor properties (91.3%) remain under individual ownership, because the market is so heavily concentrated in the smaller, individual-dominated tiers.

Geographic analysis reveals distinct pockets of investor concentration in Union County. The 43040 zip code (Marysville) is the epicenter of investor activity by sheer volume, containing 1,552 investor-owned properties.

While Marysville leads in total count, its investor ownership rate of 16.3% is near the county average. The highest market penetration is found in smaller, more rural zip codes. Both 43077 (West Mansfield) and 43036 (Magnetic Springs) have an investor ownership rate of 65.9%.

This data illustrates a key geographic pattern: investor activity is not monolithic. There is a high volume of properties in the primary population center, but a much higher saturation, or percentage of homes owned by investors, in outlying areas.

The 43016 (Dublin) and 43045 (Milford Center) zip codes also show notable investor presence, with 139 and 122 properties, respectively. Milford Center also has a high ownership rate of 20.4%.

Unfortunately, data for some zip codes like 43015 and 43060 was unavailable, which could further nuance the understanding of regional distribution. However, the existing data clearly separates high-volume areas from high-concentration areas.

The overall investor market in Union County is in a phase of strong accumulation. In Q1 2026, landlords purchased 93 properties while selling only 10, resulting in a buy-to-sell ratio of 9.3-to-1 and a net gain of 83 properties.

This aggressive buying behavior has been consistent over time. In 2025, landlords bought 922 properties and sold just 45, a ratio of over 20-to-1. In 2024, they added a net 1,065 properties. This sustained activity shows a long-term bullish sentiment among the general investor pool.

However, a crucial divergence emerges when isolating institutional investors. This cohort is actively divesting from the market. In 2024, the 1,000+ tier was a net seller, and in 2025, they sold as many properties as they acquired, failing to add any new inventory.

This bifurcation is the defining trend in the market: while thousands of properties are being acquired by smaller mom-and-pop landlords, the largest players are either exiting or holding steady. This could signal a differing outlook on the market's future growth potential between large and small investors.

The data from these Investor Pulse reports shows that headline numbers about 'investors' can mask conflicting behaviors between different segments, making tier-level analysis critical for a true market understanding.

In Q1 2026, landlords were a dominant force in the transaction market, participating in 93 of the 187 total SFR sales. This 49.7% share demonstrates that nearly one out of every two homes sold in Union County was involved in an investor transaction.

The overwhelming majority of this activity came from the smallest investors. The single-property tier was responsible for 90 of the 93 landlord transactions, showcasing their role as the primary driver of market liquidity and demand.

A distinct pricing pattern emerged among tiers. New and single-property investors paid the most, with an average purchase price of $449,007. This suggests they may be competing for more expensive, turnkey properties on the open market.

Conversely, more experienced, larger landlords appear to be finding better deals. The average price for the 6-10 property tier was just $136,667, and for the 21-50 tier it was $199,100. This $312,340 price gap between the smallest and a slightly larger tier points to vastly different acquisition strategies.

Inter-landlord activity was present but not dominant. Only 7.8% of purchases by single-property landlords came from other investors. However, the one transaction by a mid-size (21-50) investor was a landlord-to-landlord deal, suggesting this channel is more critical for larger players seeking specific assets.