Union (PA) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

In Union County, PA, landlords collectively own 2,051 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, accounting for 19.5% of the total 10,509 SFR properties in the market. This significant market penetration highlights the strong presence of rental housing providers in the region.

Individual landlords overwhelmingly dominate the investor landscape, holding 1,850 SFR properties, which constitutes 90.2% of all investor-owned SFR. Companies, in contrast, own a much smaller share with 245 properties, or 11.9% of the investor-owned market.

The prevalence of individual ownership is further underscored by entity counts, with 2,359 individual landlords compared to just 190 company landlords, resulting in a ratio of 12.4 individual landlords for every company in Union County, PA.

A critical finding for current holdings is the rental focus: 1,994 investor-owned properties are rented, representing 97.2% of the total landlord portfolio. This indicates that nearly all investor-owned SFR serve as income-generating rental units, rather than being used for other purposes.

Regarding financing, a substantial 1,437 properties (70.1% of the investor-owned portfolio) were acquired with cash, while 614 properties (29.9%) are financed. This strong preference for cash acquisitions suggests either robust capital reserves or strategic avoidance of debt by landlords in Union County, PA.

In a notable shift in market dynamics, landlords in Union County, PA, paid an average of $279,142 for properties in Q4 2025, securing a substantial $53,843 discount, or 16.2% less than traditional homeowners who paid $332,985. This indicates a strong negotiating position for investors in the current quarter.

This Q4 discount contrasts sharply with prior quarters, where landlords paid premiums: 11.7% more in Q3 ($352,340 vs $315,498) and 8.4% more in Q2 ($333,398 vs $307,677). The dramatic swing from a premium to a significant discount highlights considerable volatility in market pricing for investor acquisitions.

Looking across the year, landlord acquisition prices have fluctuated considerably. After paying an average of $290,278 in Q1, landlords saw prices rise to $333,398 in Q2 and $352,340 in Q3, before dropping to $279,142 in Q4. This pattern suggests adaptive buying strategies in response to changing market conditions.

The long-term trend reveals significant property value appreciation, with the average acquisition price for landlords increasing from $189,877 during the 2020-2023 period to $279,142 in Q4 2025. This represents a 47.0% increase, showcasing strong growth in property values over recent years.

The inconsistent price gap between landlords and homeowners, fluctuating from premiums to discounts, indicates a dynamic and potentially uneven playing field, where market conditions or property types acquired by each group significantly impact pricing outcomes each quarter.

Landlords were the primary drivers of Single Family Residential (SFR) purchases in Union County, PA, during Q4 2025, acquiring 67 properties, which accounts for a substantial 64.4% of the total 104 SFR purchases made in the quarter.

The Q4 purchasing activity was overwhelmingly concentrated among mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who together purchased 69 properties, representing 97.2% of all landlord acquisitions. This highlights their enduring influence as the dominant buying force in the local market.

New single-property landlords (Tier 01) were particularly active, with 76 entities purchasing 50 properties, making this the most prolific tier for acquisitions. This influx of smaller investors indicates a healthy entry point for new market participants.

In stark contrast to the robust activity of smaller investors, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) made no purchases in Union County, PA, during Q4 2025, confirming their complete absence from the quarter's buying landscape.

Beyond single-property owners, smaller landlords also showed activity, with two-property landlords acquiring 6 properties (8.5%), 3-5 property landlords purchasing 8 properties (11.3%), and 6-10 property landlords adding 5 properties (7.0%) to their portfolios, further reinforcing the small-scale nature of Q4 investor buying.

Mom-and-pop landlords, encompassing portfolios of 1 to 10 properties (Tiers 01-04), control an overwhelming 97.5% of all investor-owned Single Family Residential (SFR) properties in Union County, PA. This distribution decisively refutes any narrative of large-scale corporate dominance in the local rental market.

The vast majority of this mom-and-pop segment is made up of single-property landlords (Tier 01), who alone account for 1,548 properties, representing 71.8% of the total investor-owned housing. This signifies that first-time and small-scale investors are the foundational elements of the area's rental supply.

Further emphasizing the small-investor focus, landlords with 2 properties (Tier 02) own 184 properties (8.5%), while those with 3-5 properties (Tier 03) hold 290 properties (13.5%). Landlords with 6-10 properties (Tier 04) control 79 properties (3.7%), solidifying the fragmented ownership structure.

Larger investor tiers, specifically those with 11-20 properties (Tier 05), own 53 properties (2.5%), and the largest reported tier (101-1000 properties, Tier 07) controls only 2 properties (0.1%). This indicates a sharp drop-off in concentration as portfolio size increases.

Significantly, institutional investors (Tier 09), defined as owning 1000+ properties, hold 0 properties in Union County, PA. This complete absence reinforces the market's reliance on smaller, local investors for its rental housing supply.

Across all reported portfolio sizes in Union County, PA, individual landlords maintain a commanding majority of ownership, with no tier showing companies as the dominant owner type. This indicates a deeply entrenched individual investor market structure.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) are overwhelmingly individual-owned, with 1,438 properties (91.4%) held by individuals compared to 135 properties (8.6%) by companies. This tier serves as the primary entry point for individual investors.

Even in larger mom-and-pop tiers, individuals hold sway. For 2-property portfolios, individuals own 158 properties (84.9%) versus companies' 28 properties (15.1%). Similarly, for 3-5 property portfolios, individuals account for 248 properties (85.2%) compared to 43 by companies (14.8%).

The highest percentage of company ownership is observed in the 6-10 property tier, where companies hold 28 properties, representing 33.7% of that tier. However, individuals still retain the majority with 55 properties (66.3%).

In the small-medium 11-20 property tier, individuals continue to dominate, owning 48 properties (84.2%) compared to 9 properties (15.8%) held by companies. This consistent pattern across all tiers underscores the foundational role of individual investors in the Union County, PA, rental market.

Within Union County, PA, the zip code PA-Union-17837 stands out as the primary hub for investor activity, boasting the highest number of landlord-owned properties at 879, representing a 19.8% investor ownership rate. This indicates a significant concentration of rental units within this area.

Following closely, PA-Union-17844 is another key area for investors, with 469 properties under landlord ownership and a 17.7% ownership rate. These two zip codes collectively represent a substantial portion of the county's investor-owned housing stock, signaling geographic clustering of investment.

While PA-Union-17837 and 17844 lead in property count, other zip codes exhibit exceptionally high investor ownership rates, such as PA-Union-17829 and PA-Union-17835, both at 100.0% investor-owned. This suggests very specific, potentially niche, micro-markets where every SFR property is investor-held, although their total property counts are likely lower than the top count areas.

The PA-Union-17855 zip code demonstrates a high investor ownership rate of 35.2% with 122 properties, showing that high penetration rates are not exclusive to areas with the largest property counts. This reveals a diverse landscape of investor saturation across different parts of the county.

The concentration of investor properties and high ownership rates in specific zip codes highlights a targeted approach by landlords, focusing on particular sub-markets within Union County, PA, rather than a uniformly distributed investment strategy.

Landlords in Union County, PA, are demonstrating a robust and sustained accumulation strategy, acting as strong net buyers throughout 2025 with a significant 6.00x buy/sell ratio (330 buys vs 55 sells). This consistent pattern signals confidence in the local rental market.

The buying trend accelerated into Q4 2025, where landlords acquired 100 properties while only selling 16, yielding an impressive 6.25x buy/sell ratio. This quarterly activity underscores a strong demand for rental properties from investors.

Quarter-over-quarter, the net buying trend has been consistent: Q2 saw 91 buys vs 16 sells (5.69x ratio), Q3 saw 95 buys vs 15 sells (6.33x ratio), and Q4 continued this trend. Such sustained net accumulation indicates long-term holding intentions rather than short-term flipping.

Comparing annual activity, landlords increased their buying volume substantially from 248 properties in 2024 to 330 properties in 2025. This 33.1% year-over-year increase in acquisitions signifies a growing investor footprint in Union County, PA.

The low sell volumes across all timeframes (16 in Q4, 15 in Q3, 16 in Q2, 55 for all of 2025, and 19 for all of 2024) further emphasize that existing landlords are primarily holding onto their assets, contributing to a tight supply in the market. No institutional transaction data was available to compare against this trend.

In Q4 2025, landlords were central to the housing market in Union County, PA, participating in 100 out of 164 total Single Family Residential (SFR) transactions, accounting for a dominant 61.0% share of all activity.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) spearheaded transaction volume, completing 76 transactions. They also paid the highest average purchase price among all tiers at $303,219, suggesting a focus on individual, potentially higher-value properties.

Conversely, larger landlords (Tier 101-1000 properties) engaged in 2 transactions at a significantly lower average price of $95,000. This stark price difference of $208,219 (or 68.7% less than Tier 01) implies that larger investors may be targeting bulk deals, distressed assets, or lower-priced inventory.

Inter-landlord trading activity was modest in Q4. Across Tiers 01-04, 17 properties were acquired from other landlords out of 97 transactions. Tiers 3-5 and 2 showed the highest reliance on this channel, with 44.4% (4 of 9 transactions) and 42.9% (3 of 7 transactions) respectively, purchased from fellow landlords.

The absence of any transaction activity from institutional investors (Tier 09) in Q4 reinforces the market's reliance on small to mid-size landlords for its transactional liquidity and growth, further cementing the local nature of the Union County, PA, investor market.