Lakewood’s Zillow ZHVI typical city home value is $572,759, while Zillow ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,814 per month; both measures have softened year over year. Their pairing implies a 3.8% gross yield before every operating cost, leaving limited room for taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, management and financing. The ZHVI is 6.38x city median household income, an affordability constraint that may narrow buyer capacity but does not establish any property’s achievable price or rent.
Citywide, renters occupy 41.9% of occupied housing, and the housing-stock vacancy rate is 5.1%; neither indicates how quickly a specific unit will lease. Single-family units represent 56.5% of all units, while large multifamily units represent 17.8%, describing structure mix rather than purchasable inventory. ACS surveyed occupied housing reports $1,806 median gross rent, including contract rent and selected utilities, and a $574,400 owner-reported median home value. These measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s market rent and typical value and must not be averaged.
City rent-burden data show 55.2% of renters at or above the 30% housing-cost threshold, signaling affordability pressure without proving tolerance for a particular asking rent. Units vacant for rent make up 41.1% of vacant housing, a vacancy-reason share rather than available investment inventory. Population is 156,583, up 0.9% between overlapping ACS vintages; this is not annual growth, and boundary changes may affect the comparison. Median household income is $89,792, while poverty is 9.2% and unemployment is 4.5%. These citywide demand constraints are descriptive, not causes or tenant-quality predictions.
At the county scope, Jefferson County listings had a 44-day median market time, with 28.7% price reduced; this county marketing context does not measure Lakewood liquidity. Jefferson County’s property-tax rate is 0.483%, a county benchmark requiring parcel-level confirmation. Denver metro jobs declined 0.1%, while the metro had 2.9 months of supply and price drops on 41.8% of listings; these metro indicators show broader demand and negotiating conditions, not city outcomes. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, setting national financing context rather than a borrower-specific quote.
The main underwriting gap is between citywide statistics and an asset’s legal rent, condition, expenses and financing. Verify address-level sale and rental comparables; lease terms and utility responsibility; parcel taxes and association charges; insurance and hazard exposure; inspection findings and capital needs; rental compliance; and lender terms. Build cash flow from documented income and recurring expenses, with explicit vacancy and repair assumptions, rather than gross yield alone.