Menominee (WI) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investor ownership has reached a critical mass in Menominee County, with 909 of the 1,461 total SFR properties now landlord-owned, representing a market penetration of 62.2%.

The market is overwhelmingly controlled by individual investors, who own 771 properties (84.8%), compared to just 148 properties (16.3%) owned by companies. This is further reflected in the number of entities, where 1,015 of the 1,160 total landlords are individuals.

A defining characteristic of this market is its complete lack of leverage; 100% of the 909 investor-owned properties are held as cash assets, with zero properties financed.

The portfolio is heavily geared towards rental income, with 907 of the 909 properties (99.8%) being actively rented and classified as non-owner-occupied.

This composition of high, individual-led, cash-only ownership suggests a market dominated by long-term holders rather than speculative, credit-driven investors.

Market activity for investors came to a complete standstill in the latter part of the year, with zero SFR properties purchased by landlords in Q4 2025.

Due to the lack of transactions, a direct price comparison between landlords and traditional homeowners for the current quarter is not possible.

Looking back, the average landlord acquisition price during the 2020-2023 boom period was $307,849, establishing a historical baseline for the market.

The absence of landlord purchases in both Q4 2025 and Q4 2024 suggests a significant and sustained slowdown in investor acquisition activity over the past year.

This halt in purchasing, as shown in CH06-1a, signifies a major shift from previous years and points to either a lack of desirable inventory or a strategic pause from investors in the current market climate.

The fourth quarter saw a total market freeze, with landlords acquiring 0 of the 0 total SFRs sold in Menominee County, for a market share of 0.0%.

This lack of activity was universal across all investor sizes. Mom-and-pop landlords, who represent the vast majority of owners, made zero purchases.

Similarly, institutional investors were completely inactive, recording zero acquisitions in Q4.

The pipeline for new investors has also run dry, with no new single-property landlords entering the market this quarter, a stark contrast to typical market dynamics.

This data indicates a complete pause in investor-driven real estate activity, suggesting significant headwinds such as high prices, lack of inventory, or unfavorable economic conditions.

The investor landscape in Menominee County is the epitome of a small-investor market, with mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) owning 99.9% of all investor-held SFRs.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the bedrock of this market, holding 861 properties, which constitutes a massive 92.7% of the entire investor portfolio, as visualized in CH08-1.

The next largest tiers are two-property owners at 5.0% and 3-5 property owners at 2.3%, demonstrating a rapid drop-off in portfolio size.

There is no large-scale investor presence in the county; the mid-size tiers are nearly non-existent, and institutional investors (Tier 09) have zero footprint, owning 0.0% of the market.

This extreme concentration in the smallest tiers indicates a market driven by local, individual participants rather than large, professionalized real estate corporations.

Individual investors are the primary owners across every single active landlord tier in Menominee County, reinforcing their market dominance.

In the largest tier of single-property landlords, individuals own 734 properties (84.7%), while companies hold just 133 (15.3%).

This pattern continues up the scale; individuals own 100% of properties in the small landlord (3-5 properties) and small-medium (11-20 properties) tiers.

The point where companies typically become the majority owner does not exist in this market. Even in the two-property tier, individuals own a commanding 69.4% majority.

This data, highlighted in CH09-1, shows that company ownership is a marginal factor, confined to the smallest portfolio sizes and never achieving a majority stake at any level.

Geographic distribution of investor properties in Menominee County is extremely concentrated, with a single zip code, 54135, accounting for 839 of the 909 total properties (92.3%).

This same zip code, WI-Menominee-54135, also leads in market penetration, with an investor ownership rate of 63.4%.

There is a dramatic fall-off in activity outside of this core area. The second-ranked zip code, WI-Menominee-54124, has just 56 investor-owned properties.

The top regions by property count and by ownership percentage are identical, indicating that the areas with the most investor properties are also the most saturated.

This hyper-localization suggests that investor strategy is focused on a very specific sub-market within the county, rather than a broad, county-wide approach.

Historical data from 2024 reveals a starkly different market dynamic than the present, with landlords acting as aggressive net buyers.

During 2024, landlords purchased 70 SFR properties while selling only 6, resulting in a net gain of 64 properties and demonstrating strong acquisitive behavior.

The buy/sell ratio for 2024 stood at 11.7, meaning landlords bought nearly 12 properties for every 1 they sold, as shown in CH11-1a.

This period of accumulation contrasts dramatically with the complete lack of transaction activity observed in Q4 2025, highlighting a significant and recent shift in market conditions.

Institutional investors (1000+ tier) were not a factor in these historical transactions, recording zero buys or sells, which aligns with their 0.0% ownership stake in the county.

The fourth quarter was defined by a complete absence of market liquidity, with investors involved in 0 of the 0 total SFR transactions, a share of 0.0%.

This inactivity was consistent across the board, with no purchase or sale activity recorded for any of the investor tiers.

As a result, there was no trading between landlords; the percentage of properties bought from other landlords was 0%.

The lack of transactions means no pricing data is available for Q4, making it impossible to analyze price variations or strategies between different investor tiers for the period.

This complete market stall, shown in CH12-1, underscores a profound lack of both supply and demand within the investor segment of Menominee County's real estate market.