Calhoun (IL) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investors hold a significant 16.1% of the Single-Family Residential (SFR) market in Calhoun County, with a total of 186 properties under their ownership out of 1,154 total SFRs.

Individual, or 'mom-and-pop', investors form the bedrock of the rental market, owning 168 properties, which accounts for a commanding 90.3% of all investor-owned SFRs. In contrast, company-owned properties number just 23, making up the remaining 12.4%.

The financing profile for investor-owned properties reveals an overwhelming preference for cash transactions. A staggering 184 properties (98.9%) are owned free and clear, while only 2 properties are financed, signaling a low-leverage, high-equity market.

The rental focus of this portfolio is clear, with 182 of the 186 properties classified as rented. This high concentration underscores the primary strategy of generating rental income among Calhoun County investors.

The entity landscape mirrors the property ownership split, with 235 individual landlords comprising the vast majority of investors, compared to just 24 company entities. This ratio of nearly 10 individual landlords for every one company highlights the granular nature of the market.

A direct comparison of acquisition prices between landlords and traditional homeowners is not possible for Calhoun County due to a lack of transactional data in the recent quarter.

Analysis of pricing trends, such as the widening or narrowing of the price gap between investor types, cannot be performed. The data does not contain the necessary purchase information for Q4 2025 or preceding periods.

It is not possible to determine if larger, institutional-style investors pay more or less than smaller landlords, as there were no transactions recorded across any investor tier.

The lack of pricing data suggests a very low-velocity market where sales are infrequent, preventing the establishment of reliable and current pricing benchmarks for different buyer types.

Without recent sales data, any assessment of price appreciation from the 2020-2023 period to the current quarter is inconclusive for Calhoun County's investor-owned properties.

In Q4 2025, landlords made zero single-family residential purchases, accounting for 0.0% of the total market activity in Calhoun County. This complete absence of acquisitions indicates a market at a standstill for investors.

No new landlords entered the market during the quarter, as evidenced by zero purchases within Tier 01 (single-property owners). This lack of new entrants suggests a potential barrier to entry or a lack of desirable inventory.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who constitute the vast majority of existing owners, were completely inactive, acquiring 0 properties and making up 0.0% of all landlord purchases.

Similarly, institutional investors (Tier 09) were non-existent in the purchase market, with zero acquisitions, which aligns with their complete absence from the county's overall ownership landscape.

The data reflects a dormant quarter for investor acquisitions across all portfolio sizes, from first-time buyers to established mid-size landlords, signaling a period of extreme market inactivity or illiquidity.

The investor market in Calhoun County is overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale landlords. Mom-and-pop investors (1-10 properties) control 186 properties, representing a staggering 99.5% of all investor-owned SFRs.

The market structure is highly granular, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone accounting for 173 properties, or 92.5% of the entire investor portfolio. This highlights the market's reliance on first-time or small-scale investors.

Mid-size landlords are a rarity, with only one investor holding between 11-20 properties (0.5% of the portfolio). There are no investors with portfolios larger than this in the county.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have absolutely no footprint in Calhoun County, controlling 0.0% of the market. This defies the common narrative of large corporate ownership and points to a purely local, small-investor ecosystem.

Due to the lack of recent sales activity, it is not possible to analyze acquisition price variations by tier. There are no pricing benchmarks for All Time, Q4, or other recent timeframes.

Individual investors maintain majority ownership across every active tier in Calhoun County's SFR market. There is no crossover point where companies become the dominant owner type.

In the single-property tier (Tier 01), individuals own 157 properties, a commanding 88.2% share, compared to 21 properties (11.8%) owned by companies.

For landlords with two properties (Tier 02), individual ownership is absolute at 100%, with all 4 properties held by individuals.

The pattern continues in the small landlord tier (3-5 properties), where individuals also own 100% of the 8 properties in this category.

The data clearly shows that company investment is minimal and confined to the smallest portfolio size, reinforcing the market's character as being driven by private, individual capital rather than corporate entities.

Geographic concentration of investor ownership is notable in Calhoun County, with the 62047 zip code leading by volume, containing 50 landlord-owned SFRs, which translates to a 14.2% ownership rate.

The highest penetration rate occurs in the 62355 zip code, where investors own 28.6% of the housing stock. This indicates a targeted area for rental properties, despite having a smaller absolute count of properties compared to the leaders.

Following 62047 in total count are several other key zip codes: 62045 with 26 properties (21.1% rate), and both 62036 (13.2% rate) and 62053 (18.1% rate) tied with 25 properties each.

The data reveals a slight divergence between raw count and ownership percentage. While 62047 has the most properties, 62355 and 62045 have significantly higher saturation rates, suggesting these smaller markets have a greater proportion of rental housing.

The top five zip codes by investor ownership rate are 62355 (28.6%), 62045 (21.1%), 62053 (18.1%), 62013 (15.3%), and 62047 (14.2%), showcasing the primary sub-markets for rental investment within the county.

An analysis of historical transaction trends for landlords in Calhoun County cannot be conducted due to the absence of available data. It is impossible to determine whether landlords have been net buyers or net sellers over time.

The degree of market liquidity, often measured by landlord-to-landlord transactions, is unknown. There is no data to indicate what percentage of purchases are sourced from other investors.

Similarly, a comparison of average buy prices versus average sell prices is not possible, precluding any insight into potential profit margins or market-timing strategies by investors.

The buy/sell ratio, a key indicator of market sentiment and direction, cannot be calculated for any timeframe, including Q4, Q3, or annually, leaving a gap in understanding investor behavior shifts.

With zero institutional presence in the county, there are no transaction patterns to compare against the broader landlord market. The entire transactional history for this geography remains opaque.

Landlords were involved in 0.0% of the total 0 SFR transactions that took place in Calhoun County during Q4 2025, reflecting a complete halt in market activity.

Transaction volume was zero across all investor tiers. Small, single-property landlords (Tier 01) and larger portfolio holders alike recorded no buys or sells during the period.

With no purchases made, the average purchase price for every investor tier was $0. This prevents any analysis of pricing strategies or disparities between small and large investors for the quarter.

There was no inter-landlord trading activity. The percentage of properties bought from other landlords was 0%, indicating a lack of churn or portfolio repositioning within the investor community.

The Q4 transaction data paints a picture of a dormant market, with no capital being deployed by new or existing investors, and no assets being sold, across the entire spectrum of ownership tiers.