Dunn (WI) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

Investors hold a significant footprint in Dunn County, owning 2,142 Single-Family Residential (SFR) properties, which constitutes 15.7% of the total 13,647 SFRs in the market. This reveals a notable concentration of real estate investing activity within the local housing stock.

The market is dominated by individual investors rather than large corporations. Individuals own 1,414 properties, or 66.0% of the investor portfolio, compared to 733 properties (34.2%) owned by companies. This 2-to-1 ratio underscores the 'mom-and-pop' nature of the local rental market.

In terms of entity count, the disparity is even more pronounced. There are 1,500 individual landlords compared to just 441 company landlords, meaning individuals represent 77.3% of all investor entities in the county.

Investor portfolios are overwhelmingly owned outright, with 2,081 properties classified as cash-owned versus only 61 that are financed. This suggests that investors in Dunn County primarily use equity rather than leverage to acquire properties, indicating a financially stable and low-risk ownership base.

The primary use for these properties is rental income, with 2,055 of the 2,142 properties being rented. This high rental penetration confirms that the investor activity is focused on providing housing supply to the rental market.

Contrary to typical market behavior, landlords in Dunn County paid a significant premium for properties in Q1 2025. The average landlord acquisition price was $321,125, which is 14.7% higher than the $279,896 paid by traditional homeowners, representing a $41,229 price difference.

This premium marks a sharp reversal from prior periods. The average landlord purchase price in 2024 was substantially lower at $227,251, indicating a dramatic escalation in what investors were willing to pay year-over-year.

The acquisition market appears to have completely stalled in the most recent periods, with zero properties purchased by landlords in 2025-Q1 and 2024-Q4 according to the provided data. This halt in activity follows the period of unusually high pricing.

Historical data shows a clear trend of price appreciation. Landlord acquisition prices climbed from an average of $190,795 during the 2020-2023 period to $227,251 in 2024, before the spike to $321,125 in early 2025, signaling a rapidly heating market before the recent pause.

The fourth quarter of 2025 was marked by a complete freeze in investor acquisition activity in Dunn County. Landlords purchased zero of the zero total SFRs sold, capturing 0.0% of the market.

This lack of activity was universal across all investor sizes. Mom-and-pop landlords, who typically dominate buying, acquired no properties, accounting for 0.0% of the non-existent investor purchases.

Similarly, institutional investors (Tier 09) were also absent from the market, with zero properties purchased during the quarter. This indicates the purchasing halt was not isolated to a specific investor segment but was a broad market phenomenon.

The absence of new purchases means there were no new landlords entering the market via single-property acquisitions (Tier 01) in Q4. This pause in new investor formation is a significant deviation from typical market dynamics.

This purchasing standstill suggests a potential market correction or a 'wait-and-see' approach from investors, possibly in response to the price volatility and premium payments observed in the preceding quarters.

The investor landscape in Dunn County is overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04), collectively own 91.0% of all investor-held SFRs.

The single-property landlord (Tier 01) is the single largest group, holding 1,311 properties. This represents 59.3% of the entire investor-owned housing stock, highlighting the market's reliance on small, first-time, or small-time investors.

Mid-size investors (11-100 properties) play a supporting role, owning a combined 8.7% of the portfolio. The largest active tier is the 'Small-medium (21-50)' group, which holds 109 properties (4.9%).

There is a complete absence of large-scale institutional ownership in Dunn County. Investors in the 1,000+ property tier (Tier 09) own zero properties, a 0.0% market share. This firmly establishes the local market as a domain of local and regional investors, not national corporations.

This distribution reveals a highly fragmented ownership structure, which can lead to different market behaviors regarding rent-setting, property maintenance, and transaction patterns compared to institutionally-dominated markets.

Individual investors form the foundation of the Dunn County market, overwhelmingly controlling the smallest portfolio tiers. They own 1,003 of the single-property holdings (76.3%) and 105 of the two-property portfolios (61.8%).

The ownership structure pivots at the 6-10 property tier. In this category, companies become the majority holders for the first time, owning 84 properties (56.4%) compared to 65 properties (43.6%) for individuals. This marks the crossover point where portfolios tend to become more formalized business operations.

This corporate dominance continues as portfolio sizes increase. In the 11-20 property tier, companies own 46 properties, representing a 54.1% majority share.

Even with this crossover, individuals maintain a significant presence across nearly all tiers, including owning 268 properties (70.2%) in the 3-5 unit tier. This shows that many individual investors successfully scale beyond a single property without incorporating.

This pattern suggests a natural progression in property ownership, where individuals start the investment journey and companies take over as portfolios grow in complexity and scale, requiring more formal structures.

Investor ownership in Dunn County is highly concentrated geographically, with the 54751 zip code (Menomonie) serving as the primary hub. This area alone contains 1,067 investor-owned SFRs, representing 15.9% of its local housing stock.

Other significant pockets of investor activity include the 54730 (Colfax) and 54739 (Elk Mound) zip codes, which contain 242 and 193 investor-owned properties, respectively. These areas have investor ownership rates of 13.6% and 15.0%.

Some smaller, rural zip codes exhibit extreme investor saturation. For example, the 54735 (Downing) area is listed with a 100.0% investor ownership rate, and 54728 (Connorsville) has a 50.0% rate, suggesting these small communities may be dominated by rental properties.

The data highlights a clear urban-rural dynamic. The largest absolute number of investor properties is in the county's main population center, Menomonie, while the highest ownership percentages are found in much smaller, less populated areas.

This geographic distribution provides a map for understanding where rental housing is most prevalent and where future investment activity might focus. Comprehensive assessor data can further pinpoint opportunities within these concentrated zones.

Over the past two years, landlords in Dunn County have been aggressively expanding their portfolios. In 2024, they were strong net buyers, purchasing 148 SFR properties while only selling 23, resulting in a net gain of 125 properties.

This accumulation strategy, though smaller in scale, continued into 2025. During the year, investors acquired 4 properties and sold just 1, for a net increase of 3 properties to their collective holdings.

The buy-to-sell ratio highlights this acquisitive stance. In 2024, landlords bought 6.4 properties for every one they sold. This indicates a strong belief in the market's potential for appreciation and rental income growth.

Institutional investors (1,000+ unit owners) were completely inactive on both sides of the market. They recorded zero buy and zero sell transactions, reinforcing their absence from the Dunn County real estate landscape.

The consistent net buying activity shows that, despite recent price spikes and a subsequent pause in purchasing, the underlying sentiment among the county's existing investor base remains bullish.

In Q1, the Dunn County real estate market saw a complete cessation of investor-involved transactions. Landlords were party to zero of the zero total SFR transactions, holding a 0.0% share of market activity.

This inactivity spanned the entire spectrum of investor sizes. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), typically the most active segment, recorded zero transactions during the quarter.

Likewise, institutional investors (Tier 09) also posted zero transactions, confirming that the market slowdown was not confined to a single group but was a universal trend among all property investors.

As a result of the transaction freeze, there was no inter-landlord trading. The percentage of properties bought from other landlords was 0.0%, indicating a lack of portfolio reshuffling or sales between existing owners.

The complete absence of transactions and the corresponding lack of pricing data for the quarter suggest investors have hit a temporary pause, likely evaluating the rapid price changes and market conditions before re-engaging.