Yuma's Zillow ZHVI puts the typical city home value at $298,230, while ZORI puts typical observed monthly market rent at $1,473. Those measures imply a 5.93% gross yield, calculated as annual ZORI divided by ZHVI and before every operating, financing, vacancy and capital cost. The value equals 4.55x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI equals 27.00% of that income. This is a screening frame, not a property cash-flow result.
The city has 44,663 housing units, with a citywide vacancy rate of 12.43% and renter share of occupied housing of 33.25%. ACS reports a $230,000 median home value for surveyed owner-occupied housing and $1,114 median gross rent for surveyed renter-occupied housing, including selected utilities. Those occupied-housing medians have different definitions and periods from Zillow's typical market value and observed market rent; combining or averaging them would obscure rather than reconcile the measures.
Direct city evidence shows 52.43% of renters are cost-burdened, a demand constraint rather than proof of achievable rent. Single-family structures make up 63.15% of all units and large multifamily structures 4.49%; mobile homes are also part of the mix, but structure shares do not measure purchasable inventory. Seasonal use accounts for 3,243 vacant units, so aggregate vacancy does not equal units offered for rent. Population changed 3.93% between overlapping ACS vintages; that is not annual growth and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $65,482, while poverty is 15.54% and unemployment 6.35%, describing demand and labor constraints without proving tenant performance.
At the county scope, Yuma County shows a 0.61% property-tax rate, a 53-day Realtor median market time and 14.33% of listings price-reduced, useful for expense and exit assumptions but not city measurements. The Yuma, AZ metro had 5.4 months of supply and a 98.75% sale-to-list ratio, while metro jobs declined 2.43%; these metro facts suggest negotiating room alongside softer labor demand, without identifying city outcomes. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58%, a national financing benchmark rather than Yuma borrowing terms.
Underwriting remains limited by city, county, metro and national aggregates, mismatched ACS and Zillow concepts, overlapping survey vintages, and gross yield's exclusion of costs. Before a decision, verify the specific property's asking price, achievable lease terms, utility responsibility, taxes, insurance, hazard exposure, management, repairs, capital reserves, legal use and current occupancy. Obtain property comparables for both rent and resale, inspect condition and structure type, test financed and unfinanced cash flow, and confirm whether apparent vacancy or seasonal demand applies to the asset.