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

Real estate investors hold a significant 20.3% of the single-family residential market in Macoupin County, IL, with a total portfolio of 3,367 properties.

The market is overwhelmingly dominated by individual investors, who own 2,920 properties (86.7%), compared to just 502 properties (14.9%) held by companies. This highlights a market driven by local, small-scale capital rather than large corporations.

A strong preference for all-cash holdings is evident, with 2,452 properties owned free and clear. This is nearly three times the 915 properties that are financed, signaling a low-leverage, risk-averse investment strategy across the county.

The investor focus is squarely on generating rental income, as demonstrated by the 3,252 properties classified as rented or non-owner-occupied. This constitutes the vast majority of the total investor portfolio.

The disparity between individual and company landlords is even more pronounced by entity count than by property count. There are 3,497 individual landlords compared to only 261 company landlords, a ratio of more than 13 to 1.

In Q4 2025, landlords demonstrated significant purchasing power, acquiring properties for an average of $166,922—a 14.1% discount compared to the $194,317 paid by traditional homeowners. This equates to a substantial savings of $27,395 per property.

The pricing dynamic shifted dramatically throughout 2025. While landlords enjoyed a deep discount in Q4, they were paying significant premiums earlier in the year, including an 8.7% premium ($16,426) in Q2 and an 8.1% premium ($13,960) in Q1, indicating a major change in market conditions or investor strategy.

The average landlord acquisition price has risen considerably since the 2020-2023 period. The Q4 2025 average price of $166,922 represents a 24.4% increase over the pandemic-era average of $134,217, highlighting strong market appreciation.

Comparing Q4 2025 to Q3 2025, the landlord discount widened significantly. The 14.1% discount in Q4 is nearly double the 7.6% discount observed in the prior quarter, suggesting that negotiating power shifted further in favor of investors as the year concluded.

Investor activity surged in Q4 2025, with landlords purchasing 49 of the 119 single-family homes sold in Macoupin County. This 41.2% market share represents a powerful influence on the local real estate market.

The entirety of Q4 investor purchasing activity came from mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who acquired 100% of the 49 properties. Institutional investors with portfolios over 1,000 properties made no acquisitions.

New entrants were the primary driver of Q4 activity. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone accounted for 47 of the 49 purchases (94.0%), signaling a wave of first-time investors entering the rental market.

The data reveals the creation of 63 new landlord entities in the single-property tier during Q4. This influx of new capital from small-scale players underscores the accessible and attractive nature of the local market.

Activity was highly concentrated at the smallest end of the investor spectrum, with only one purchase each recorded for landlords in the 2, 3-5, and 6-10 property tiers, further cementing the dominance of first-time buyers.

The investor landscape in Macoupin County is defined by small-scale ownership, with mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) controlling a commanding 92.9% of all investor-held SFRs.

First-time and single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the bedrock of the market, owning 2,405 properties. This single tier accounts for 68.8% of the entire investor-owned housing stock, demonstrating the highly fragmented nature of ownership.

There is a complete absence of institutional capital in this market. The 1,000+ property tier (Tier 09) holds zero properties, challenging any narrative of large-scale corporate takeovers in the region.

Mid-size investors (11-100 properties) represent a small fraction of the market, collectively owning just 243 properties or 6.9% of the total investor portfolio across three tiers.

Even the largest local landlords are relatively small-scale, with the 'Large' (101-1000) tier comprising just 7 properties, or 0.2% of the total, reinforcing the community-based character of real estate investment in the county.

A clear pattern of ownership structure emerges across portfolio sizes: individuals are the primary owners of smaller portfolios, while companies take control as portfolios scale.

Individual ownership is most pronounced at the entry level, with individuals owning 2,271 of the 2,405 single-property rentals (93.5%). This dominance continues through the 11-20 property tier.

The crossover point where ownership professionalizes into corporate structures occurs in the 21-50 property tier. At this level, companies own 50 properties (50.5%), marking the first tier where they hold a majority stake.

As portfolios grow, company ownership becomes increasingly prevalent. In the 101-1000 property tier, companies own 5 of the 7 properties, a 71.4% share, indicating that significant scale typically requires a corporate entity.

Even in tiers where individuals are not the majority, they maintain a presence. For example, individuals still own 49.5% of properties in the 21-50 tier and 66.7% in the 6-10 tier, showing that personal ownership can extend into mid-sized portfolios.

Investor ownership in Macoupin County is not evenly distributed, but rather concentrated in specific geographic pockets. The zip code 62033 is the epicenter of this activity, with 459 investor-owned properties and an ownership rate of 23.8%.

A significant portion of the county's entire investor portfolio is located in just three zip codes. Together, 62033 (Girard), 62069 (Mount Olive), and 62014 (Carlinville) hold 939 properties, accounting for 27.9% of all investor-owned SFRs.

High investor penetration is a key characteristic of these top areas. The 23.8% rate in 62033 and 20.7% rate in 62069 are both above the county-wide average of 20.3%, indicating these are preferred markets for landlords.

While some zip codes, such as 62683 and 62692, report 100% investor ownership, these figures likely represent areas with very few total SFR properties and should be interpreted with caution due to small sample sizes.

This geographic concentration suggests that investors are employing a hyper-local strategy, targeting specific communities or neighborhoods that they have identified as having strong rental demand or investment potential.

Landlords in Macoupin County are in a strong accumulation phase, consistently buying far more properties than they sell. In Q4 2025, they purchased 66 properties while only selling 18, resulting in a buy-to-sell ratio of 3.67x.

This net-buyer behavior was a persistent trend throughout the entire year. For the full year 2025, landlords acquired 236 homes and sold just 43, producing a net gain of 193 properties and an annual buy-to-sell ratio of 5.49x.

The pace of acquisitions, while still robust, moderated slightly in 2025 compared to the prior year. The 236 properties purchased in 2025 is a decrease from the 282 properties purchased in 2024.

Selling activity remains low across all periods, indicating that most investors are adopting a long-term buy-and-hold strategy rather than flipping properties for short-term gains.

With no institutional transaction data available, this net-buying trend is entirely driven by the activity of small- to medium-sized local investors who are actively expanding their rental portfolios.

Landlords played a crucial role in market activity during Q4 2025, being a party to 66 of the 179 total SFR transactions, a share of 36.9%. This highlights their significant impact on market liquidity and sales volume.

The transaction market was exclusively driven by smaller investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) accounted for 100% of these 66 transactions, with no participation from institutional-scale firms.

New entrants (Tier 01) dominated the buying side, conducting 63 of the 66 transactions. This demonstrates that the growth in the rental market is fueled by a continuous stream of first-time investors.

A notable portion of new inventory for landlords comes from other landlords. In Q4, 15.9% of purchases by single-property investors were from existing landlords, suggesting an active secondary market where rental properties are traded between investors.

Acquisition prices varied by tier, with new single-property investors paying an average of $170,236. In contrast, the single purchase by a 3-5 property landlord was at a much lower price point of $63,840, suggesting different investment strategies or target property types between tiers.