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

Investor-owned SFR properties constitute 20.1% of Hocking County's total 9,158 SFR properties, demonstrating a significant landlord presence in the local housing market.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord landscape, owning 1,395 properties (75.6% of investor-owned SFR), while companies hold a smaller share of 482 properties (26.1%).

The ownership structure is further highlighted by entity counts, with 1,869 individual landlords compared to 374 company landlords out of 2,243 total entities. This indicates that individual landlords are far more numerous, even if their average portfolio size is smaller.

Cash acquisitions are prominent among Hocking County landlords, accounting for 1,156 properties (62.6% of holdings), significantly outpacing financed properties at 689 (37.3%). This suggests a well-capitalized investor base or a preference for lower-value, unfinanced properties.

A striking 96.3% of landlord-owned properties, totaling 1,777, are identified as rented, underscoring that the vast majority of these properties are non-owner-occupied and actively managed for rental income.

While individual landlords make up 83.3% of landlord entities, they hold an average of 0.75 properties each (1,395 properties / 1,869 entities), compared to company landlords who average 1.29 properties per entity (482 properties / 374 entities), indicating companies, though fewer, manage slightly larger portfolios.

According to acquisition summaries, landlords had zero recorded property acquisitions in Hocking County, OH for Q4 2025, or any other quarter in 2025 or 2024, presenting a significant data anomaly given other sections show Q4 landlord purchases.

Despite the absence of recorded landlord acquisition volume in these specific tables, the stated average landlord acquisition price for Q4 2025 was $447,742, a substantial $143,146 (47.0%) premium compared to the traditional homeowner price of $304,596.

This stated price premium for landlords has seen a notable narrowing throughout 2025, decreasing from a peak of 76.5% ($185,871 difference) in Q2 to 58.8% in Q3 and settling at 47.0% in Q4, suggesting a shifting market dynamic if these prices reflect real activity.

The lack of landlord acquisition data in this section conflicts with other data points, such as 35 landlord purchases reported in Q4 2025 from Section 7, which had an average Tier 01 purchase price of $523,936 for those active buyers.

Comparing historical landlord prices from 2020-2023 ($332,268 avg) to Q4 2025's stated average ($447,742) implies a potential 34.8% price increase, assuming these average prices are representative of the market even without recorded local landlord acquisition volume in this table.

The persistent premium of stated landlord prices over homeowner prices across all quarters of 2025 (ranging from 47.0% to 76.5%) suggests that landlords may be targeting a different segment of the market or properties with higher value, or that data aggregation methods vary across reports.

Landlords in Hocking County, OH made 35 SFR purchases in Q4 2025, representing a significant 31.2% of the total 112 SFR properties transacted in the market, highlighting their active role in recent property acquisition.

Small-scale investors, particularly single-property landlords (Tier 01), dominated Q4 purchases, acquiring 23 properties (65.7% of all landlord buys) and demonstrating the market's reliance on new or expanding individual portfolios.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) collectively accounted for 31 of the 35 landlord purchases, representing an overwhelming 88.6% of all investor activity this quarter, reinforcing their position as the primary buying force.

In stark contrast to smaller investors, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) made no purchases in Hocking County, OH during Q4 2025, reflecting a complete absence of large-scale corporate buying activity in this local market.

The 35 entities involved in single-property (Tier 01) purchases acquired 23 properties, indicating that new or small landlords are actively entering or expanding within Hocking County's SFR market, even if some entities acquired less than one property on average.

Tiers 02 through 08 combined for only 12 properties (34.3% of landlord purchases), with each tier beyond Tier 01 typically seeing only 1-3 properties acquired, showing a clear tapering of activity as portfolio size increases for Q4 acquisitions.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) dominate the investor-owned SFR market in Hocking County, controlling a commanding 1,848 properties, which represents 97.2% of all properties distributed across investor tiers (1,901 properties).

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the largest segment, owning 1,345 properties and accounting for 70.8% of the total investor-owned housing distributed across tiers, highlighting the foundational role of small-scale investors.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a negligible share in Hocking County, with only 7 properties, representing a mere 0.4% of the investor-owned market distributed by tier.

The absence of specific acquisition price data by tier in this section prevents a direct analysis of how pricing strategies differ between larger and smaller investors, leaving an insight gap on whether larger investors pay more or less per property in this county.

The distribution reveals a steep drop-off in property counts beyond the mom-and-pop tiers, with Tiers 05-08 together accounting for just 46 properties (2.4% of the tiered distribution), underscoring the limited presence of mid-size investors.

While Tier 01 has 1,345 properties, indicating an average portfolio size of 1 for these entities, higher tiers like Tier 03-05 with 272 properties and Tier 06-10 with 66 properties show concentration of slightly larger, but still relatively small, portfolios within the mom-and-pop spectrum.

Individual investors maintain a significant majority across all investor tiers where data is provided in Hocking County, OH, demonstrating their pervasive influence in both very small and moderately-sized portfolios.

In the largest reported tier segment (6-10 properties), individuals still hold 53.0% (35 properties) compared to companies at 47.0% (31 properties), indicating that companies do not achieve majority ownership even in larger mom-and-pop portfolios.

The single-property tier (Tier 01) exhibits the highest individual concentration, with 1,123 properties (81.7%) owned by individuals versus 251 (18.3%) by companies, underscoring the role of first-time or sole property owners.

There is no crossover point evident in Hocking County, OH where company ownership surpasses individual ownership within the available tier data, contrasting with trends seen in larger, more institutionalized markets.

For the 3-5 property tier, individual investors own 173 properties (63.6%), while companies hold 99 properties (36.4%), further cementing the individual investor's stronghold even as portfolio size increases.

Within Hocking County, OH, the zip code 43138 holds the highest concentration of investor-owned properties, totaling 1,003, which represents 18.7% of its local SFR market, making it a key hub for landlord activity.

Conversely, OH-Hocking-43152 leads in investor ownership rate, with a substantial 38.1% of its SFR properties held by landlords, despite having a lower absolute count of 138 investor-owned properties.

The zip code OH-Hocking-43152 uniquely features in both the top 5 by count and top 5 by percentage, indicating that it is a market with both significant investor presence and high penetration of landlord-owned housing.

The top five zip codes by investor property count—43138 (1,003), 43149 (220), 43135 (179), 43152 (138), and 43155 (108)—collectively highlight specific areas within Hocking County where landlord investment is most concentrated by volume.

Examining investor ownership rates reveals other highly penetrated markets like OH-Hocking-43127 (35.1%), OH-Hocking-43144 (28.3%), OH-Hocking-45622 (25.0%), and OH-Hocking-45654 (24.8%), which, while not necessarily having the highest total counts, demonstrate a strong landlord presence relative to their total SFR inventory.

The wide variation between top regions by count and top regions by percentage indicates that investor strategies may differ, with some areas attracting high volume and others being targeted for their high rental market saturation.

Landlords in Hocking County, OH demonstrated robust net buying activity in Q4 2025, executing 47 buy transactions against only 5 sell transactions, resulting in an aggressive 9.4x buy/sell ratio that signals strong accumulation.

The net buying trend for all landlords has been consistent, with 2025 recording 149 buys versus 19 sells (a 7.8x ratio) and 2024 seeing 199 buys versus 22 sells (a 9.0x ratio), indicating sustained growth in landlord portfolios.

In contrast to the overall landlord activity, institutional investors (1000+ properties) showed a neutral position in 2024, with 1 buy and 1 sell transaction, indicating neither significant accumulation nor divestment at the top tier in Hocking County, OH.

While average buy and sell prices are not provided for all landlord transactions in this section, the high buy-to-sell ratio strongly suggests confidence in market appreciation or rental income prospects among local investors.

The quarterly transaction volumes for all landlords show sustained activity, with 47 buys in Q4, 24 in Q3, and 48 in Q2 2025, demonstrating consistent engagement throughout the year.

Landlords in Hocking County, OH were active players in Q4 2025, participating in 47 transactions, which represents a 28.3% share of the total 166 SFR transactions recorded in the market.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, conducting 35 transactions and paying the highest average purchase price among all tiers at $523,936, reflecting their direct market engagement.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) collectively drove 43 out of the 47 landlord transactions, reinforcing their dominant role in buying activity during Q4, while institutional investors (Tier 09) registered no transactions.

Inter-landlord trading activity was notably low for the most active tier, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) acquiring only 1 of their 35 properties (2.9%) from other landlords, suggesting they primarily sourced properties from non-investor sellers.

The average purchase prices varied significantly across tiers, with Tier 01 paying $523,936, Tier 02 at $381,600, and larger tiers (51-100 properties) seeing an average of $45,000 for their single transaction, indicating diverse acquisition strategies and property types.

Tier 02 landlords showed a higher propensity for inter-landlord transactions, with 1 of their 3 properties (33.3%) bought from other landlords, suggesting a segment of the market where investors trade among themselves.