Yakima’s Zillow ZHVI typical city home value is $367,991, while Zillow ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,369 a month. That pairing implies a 4.5% gross yield before vacancy, operating costs, capital work and financing. The home value equals 5.9x ACS median household income, and annual ZORI equals 26.1% of that $62,815 income. This screens affordability; it is not a mortgage-payment test or evidence a specific property will achieve the typical rent.
The city has 37,467 housing units, with a 4.6% citywide vacancy rate and a 46.2% renter share of occupied units. These describe stock and tenure, not turnover, condition or availability at an address. ACS surveyed occupied housing reports a $297,600 median home value and $1,117 median gross rent, which includes contract rent plus selected utilities. Because those ACS measures cover different concepts and periods from Zillow, they should not be averaged or treated as conflicting quotes.
Direct city depth is mixed. The city’s ACS rent-burden measure is 49.2%, a household-budget pressure signal rather than a property-specific rent ceiling. Single-family structures are 63.8% of units and large multifamily structures are 7.3%, but these survey shares are not investment inventory. Of 1,741 vacant units, 436 were for rent, but reason-for-vacancy is not live availability. Population was 3.8% higher across the overlapping ACS vintages; this is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $62,815, while poverty is 16.6% and unemployment is 8.4%, descriptive demand constraints that do not establish tenant quality or causation.
For Yakima County, the county property-tax rate is 0.794% and the county price-reduced listing share is 17.1%; neither county figure should be assigned to a city property. The broader Yakima metro recorded 0.17% job growth and 4 months of supply; metro labor and resale conditions frame, but do not measure, city demand or a property’s liquidity. The national Freddie Mac mortgage rate is 6.58%; the national financing benchmark affects payment sensitivity but is not a local quote.
Underwriting is limited by citywide typicals, survey medians and wider-area indicators with different denominators. Before deciding, verify asking and achieved rents, lease terms, utility responsibility, condition, deferred work, occupancy history, concessions and comparable quality. Obtain the actual tax bill, insurance and hazard terms, association charges, operating budgets, financing quote and title or zoning constraints. Recalculate net operating income, debt service, cash reserves and exit sensitivity from property documents rather than treating gross yield or citywide vacancy as a property forecast.