Clark (OH) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Clark County own 6,676 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, representing 16.3% of the total SFR market of 40,946 properties. This signifies a substantial investor presence within the local housing market.

Individual landlords (mom-and-pop) overwhelmingly dominate the market in terms of entities, with 5,908 individuals compared to just 663 companies, reflecting an almost 9:1 ratio of individual to company landlords.

Despite the entity count, individual landlords still own the majority of SFR properties, controlling 4,894 properties (73.3%), while company entities hold 1,856 properties (27.8%), challenging the narrative of sole corporate ownership.

The vast majority of investor-owned properties are actively rented, with 6,478 properties (97.0% of the landlord portfolio) classified as such, underscoring a strong income-generation focus by landlords in the county.

Cash purchases significantly outweigh financed acquisitions within the landlord portfolio, with 4,604 properties (69.0%) bought outright in cash versus 2,072 properties (31.0%) that are financed, indicating a preference for debt-free assets or strong capital reserves among investors.

The high percentage of non-owner-occupied (rented) properties confirms that investor activity in Clark County is primarily driven by rental income generation rather than owner-occupancy flips.

Landlords in Clark County consistently secure substantial discounts on SFR acquisitions compared to traditional homeowners. In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $143,597, which is $84,675 or 37.1% less than the $228,272 paid by homeowners.

This significant price advantage for landlords was a consistent trend throughout 2025, with discounts ranging from 18.8% in Q1 ($40,189 difference) to a peak of 38.2% in Q2 ($94,770 difference), demonstrating landlords' ability to find and secure properties at lower price points.

Average landlord acquisition prices have risen considerably since the pandemic-era boom, increasing by 23.5% from $116,278 during 2020-2023 to $143,597 in Q4 2025, reflecting broader market appreciation within the county.

While the exact number of properties acquired during each quarter of 2025 is not explicitly detailed in the timeframe data, the consistent reporting of average acquisition prices indicates ongoing market activity at these price points.

The price gap between landlords and homeowners shows volatility but no clear narrowing or widening trend over the year, suggesting that market conditions allow for opportunistic buying by landlords rather than a fixed discount.

Landlords were significant players in the Clark County housing market during Q4 2025, acquiring 131 SFR properties, which accounted for 28.9% of all 454 SFR purchases in the quarter.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) dominated Q4 purchasing activity, responsible for 73 properties or 54.9% of all landlord acquisitions, highlighting the prevalence of individual investors making their initial foray into the market.

The mom-and-pop segment (Tiers 01-04) collectively drove the majority of landlord purchases, acquiring 102 properties, representing a substantial 76.7% share of all landlord-bought SFR in Q4.

A notable 100 entities classified as single-property landlords (Tier 01) were active purchasers in Q4, signaling a robust entry rate for new individual investors into the Clark County rental market.

In stark contrast to smaller investors, institutional investors (Tier 09) showed minimal purchasing activity, acquiring only 3 properties, which constituted a mere 2.3% of total landlord purchases in Q4, reaffirming their limited presence in this county's market.

Tiers 21-50 demonstrated the highest average properties per entity in Q4 at 5.0 properties per entity (15 properties by 3 entities), indicating more concentrated buying power within this mid-size landlord segment compared to smaller tiers.

Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties, Tiers 01-04) are the dominant force in Clark County's investor-owned housing market, controlling a substantial 85.9% of all 6,676 landlord-owned SFR properties.

The single-property landlord segment (Tier 01) represents the bedrock of investor ownership, holding 4,237 properties, which accounts for an overwhelming 61.7% of the entire landlord portfolio.

In stark contrast to the mom-and-pop presence, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) maintain a negligible footprint in Clark County, controlling only 37 properties, or a mere 0.5% of the total investor-owned SFR.

Analysis of Q4 2025 transaction prices reveals that larger institutional investors ($96,953) paid significantly less per property than single-property landlords ($175,403), securing a 44.7% discount, suggesting different acquisition strategies or access to lower-priced inventory.

The highly concentrated ownership among smaller tiers (01-04) dispels the notion of large corporate landlords dominating the county's SFR market, reinforcing the role of local, individual investors.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smallest portfolio sizes, holding 91.8% of properties in Tier 01 (single-property landlords) and 76.1% in Tier 02 (two-property landlords), showcasing their strong presence at the market entry level.

A significant shift occurs at the 'small landlord' level (Tier 06-10), where company ownership surpasses individual ownership, with companies controlling 57.2% of properties compared to individuals' 42.8%, marking a clear crossover point.

As portfolio sizes increase, company concentration intensifies, reaching its peak in the Tier 11-20 segment, where companies own 71.6% of properties, while individual ownership falls to 28.4%.

This tiered ownership split reveals distinct investment strategies, with individuals typically managing smaller, perhaps personal portfolios, and companies scaling up operations more effectively in the mid-size and larger segments.

The data clearly illustrates that while individuals form the broad base of landlords in terms of entity count, larger property portfolios are increasingly held by company structures.

Investor-owned properties in Clark County show significant concentration within specific zip codes. OH-Clark-45505 leads by volume with 1,527 investor-owned SFR properties, followed closely by OH-Clark-45503 (1,384 properties) and OH-Clark-45506 (1,168 properties), indicating clear geographic hotspots for investor activity.

Beyond sheer volume, certain zip codes exhibit extremely high investor ownership rates, revealing markets heavily influenced by landlords. OH-Clark-45372 has an astounding 76.1% of its SFR properties investor-owned, and OH-Clark-45316 is close behind at 66.7%.

The top zip codes by property count (45505, 45506) also appear among the top five by ownership percentage, suggesting that areas with a high number of investor properties often correlate with high investor penetration rates within their local SFR market.

The concentration of investor-owned properties in specific zip codes suggests targeted investment strategies, potentially focusing on areas with higher rental demand or more accessible price points within Clark County.

The exceptionally high investor ownership rates in zip codes like 45372 and 45316 imply that these areas function predominantly as rental markets, with a comparatively smaller share of owner-occupied housing.

Overall, landlords in Clark County have maintained a strong net buyer position, actively acquiring properties across all reported timeframes. In 2025, they purchased 671 SFR properties while selling 236, resulting in a net gain of 435 properties and a robust buy/sell ratio of 2.84x.

This consistent accumulation trend is also evident in Q4 2025, where landlords bought 168 properties against 50 sales, yielding a net positive of 118 acquisitions and a 3.36x buy/sell ratio, indicating continued market confidence and growth.

In stark contrast to the overall landlord trend, institutional investors (1000+ properties) have exhibited a divestment or neutral strategy over longer periods. For the entirety of 2025, institutions were net sellers, selling 8 properties while only buying 4.

While institutional investors registered a slight net buyer position in Q4 2025 (3 buys vs 1 sell), this low transaction volume suggests minimal market engagement, and their annual net seller status confirms a broader pattern of not accumulating properties in this county.

The diverging transaction patterns between all landlords and institutional investors highlight a local market where individual and smaller landlords are actively expanding their portfolios, while larger entities are either maintaining their holdings or selectively exiting.

Landlords played a substantial role in Q4 2025 market activity in Clark County, participating in 168 transactions, which constituted 26.4% of the total 637 SFR transactions during the quarter.

Transaction volume was heavily concentrated in the smaller tiers, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) executing the most transactions at 100, reaffirming their high engagement in the market. In contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09) had minimal activity with just 3 transactions.

A notable trend in Q4 pricing shows that smaller landlords (Tier 01) paid the highest average price at $175,403, while institutional investors (Tier 09) secured properties at a significantly lower average of $96,953, representing a 44.7% discount compared to Tier 01 buyers.

Inter-landlord trading was most prevalent among single-property landlords (Tier 01), where 17.0% of their 100 transactions were purchases from other landlords, suggesting active churn within the mom-and-pop segment. Most other tiers showed very low or zero inter-landlord transactions.

The considerable price variance across tiers, from Tier 01's $175,403 to Tier 51-100's $33,000, indicates diverse property types, locations, and negotiation power depending on the investor's portfolio size and strategy.

The dominance of Tier 01 in Q4 transactions aligns with its overall market share, confirming that the largest segment of ownership is also the most active in acquiring properties within the county.