Harrisburg’s Zillow ZHVI is $271,374 and ZORI is $1,361 monthly, implying a 6.0% gross yield. This is annual observed market rent divided by typical home value before vacancy, maintenance, management, taxes, insurance, utilities, financing and transaction costs, so it is not cash-on-cash return. The city price is 5.64x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI is 34.0% of that income, signaling acquisition and tenant-affordability pressure.
The city has 24,130 housing units; renters occupy 63.4% of occupied units, and citywide vacancy is 8.3%. ACS reports a $124,200 median value for occupied owner housing and $1,062 median gross rent for occupied rentals, including selected utilities. These surveyed measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical value and observed market rent; they should not be averaged.
City depth is mixed. Single-family structures are 57.1% of units and large multifamily buildings 15.5%; the median year built is 1947, making property-level condition important. Among measured renter households, 49.0% are rent-burdened, while for-rent units are 39.2% of vacant units; neither shows that a particular rental will lease quickly. Population increased 2.2% between overlapping ACS vintages to 50,287, but this is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. City median household income is $48,099, the poverty rate is 30.5% and the unemployment rate is 11.4%. These are descriptive demand constraints, not causes of market movement; city structure, burden and vacancy-reason shares reveal neither available investment inventory nor building quality.
At county scope, Dauphin County’s property-tax rate is 1.35% and median listing time is 40 days; neither is a city parcel bill or city sale-time measure. The Harrisburg metro has 1.6 months of supply; this metro measure does not establish city-level competition. Harrisburg metro employment is down 0.03% year over year, a broad labor caution rather than a city trend. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, so leverage terms could materially change cash flow despite the unlevered city yield.
The central limitation is that city measures are aggregates and gross yield omits all operating and financing costs. Before bidding, verify achievable rent, leases, utility responsibility, occupancy, arrears and comparable units; inspect structure, systems and deferred maintenance; and obtain parcel-specific taxes, insurance, hazard information, title, zoning and permits. Model repairs, reserves, management, turnover, vacancy, closing costs and loan terms under downside cases. These checks determine whether the property resembles the citywide screen.