Bartholomew County, IN

Bartholomew County presents a carry-versus-liquidity tension: the 2026-06 Zillow county observation pairs a $278,579 median home value with $1,399 monthly median asking rent and a reported 6.03% gross yield before expenses. That supports investigation by buyers able to validate operating costs, while buyers relying on rapid resale should be cautious. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 3.88%; it confirms positive price direction but is not a home value and is neither the same vintage nor method as Zillow.

The market-rent measure, rather than HUD’s two-bedroom FMR, is the basis for the reported yield; FMR is only a payment standard and cannot substitute for asking rent. An effective property-tax rate of 0.75% is a direct carrying-cost input against the value and rent figures. Modeled annual climate loss equals 0.14% of building value, with inland flood the dominant hazard; site-specific elevation, insurance and drainage could change the property result.

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS snapshot shows active listings up 11.31% year over year, a 42-day median marketing time, and 19.63% of listings reduced. This describes visible asking-market supply and seller concessions, not closed-sale prices or buyer demand alone. QCEW’s 2025 annual covered employment at county workplaces fell 1.41%, while Manufacturing, the largest disclosed private supersector, represented 42.75% of private covered jobs. That combination warrants scrutiny of employer and submarket exposure; these are neither resident employment nor a forecast.

Migration adds a demand caveat: net migration was negative 77 tax-return households, and households moving out had higher average AGI than those moving in. Investors accounted for 56 of 1,112 purchases, or 5.04%, limiting evidence of investor-led competition but not identifying cash buyers or neighborhood concentration. Missing closed-sale comps, property-level insurance and flood history, vacancy and operating expenses, and lease-level rent data prevent a defensible net-yield, resale-liquidity or property-specific hazard conclusion.