Lockport’s Zillow ZHVI typical city home value is $274,484, and Zillow ZORI typical observed monthly market rent is $1,024. Their relationship produces a 4.5% gross yield before property taxes, insurance, maintenance, management, vacancy, financing, or capital spending. ZHVI is 4.4x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI is 19.7% of that income. Together, these comparisons provide a citywide affordability screen, but do not establish the payment, expenses, or lease terms of a specific property.
ACS records 10,205 city housing units and a 9.9% citywide vacancy rate; renters occupy 41.2% of occupied homes. The ACS owner-reported median home value is $139,900 and median gross rent is $945 monthly; gross rent includes contract rent and selected utilities. These are survey measures of occupied housing, whereas Zillow ZHVI is a typical city home value and ZORI is a typical observed market rent. They have different definitions and periods and should not be averaged or substituted for one another.
At city level, 40.3% of renter households are rent burdened. Housing stock is 58.4% single-family and 4.5% large multifamily. Of vacant units, for-rent vacancies account for 19.3%, and for-sale and seasonal use are also reported vacancy reasons. Population is 20,610, 0.6% above baseline across overlapping ACS five-year vintages; this is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $62,410, poverty is 15.2%, and unemployment is 4.8%. These citywide survey facts describe housing and demand constraints, not available inventory, tenant quality, lease-up speed, or causation.
In Niagara County, fair-market rent for a two-bedroom is $1,343, and the county property-tax rate is 2.2%; these county figures are context rather than Lockport measurements. In the broader Buffalo metro, supply is 2.6 months and sale-to-list is 104.8%, both metro market indicators rather than city sales evidence. The national 30-year mortgage rate is 6.7%, a national financing benchmark rather than a local borrower quote.
Main underwriting gaps include parcel condition, tax assessments, insurability, utility responsibility, renovation scope, financing terms, and actual rents and turnover. Before acting, verify unit mix and legal use; obtain current taxes, insurance and utility quotes; inspect age-related systems; review leases, deposits and arrears; and compare asking rents with signed local leases. Confirm whether any vacancy reflects repairs, marketing, seasonality, or tenant transition.