Benton County, AR

Benton County’s decision tension is measurable market-rent income against a listing market showing more negotiating room and a flood exposure that can alter carrying costs. It merits investigation by buyers who can underwrite parcels and leases; it warrants caution for anyone leaning on headline appreciation or treating listing softness as proof of weak demand. County evidence is a screen, not a parcel decision.

Zillow’s county median home value is $388,159 and median asking market rent is $1,567 per month, yielding the supplied 4.84% gross yield before expenses. The 0.56% effective property-tax rate is a carrying-cost input, but assessment, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, financing and capital expenditures are not published; net cash flow therefore cannot be concluded. HUD’s $1,347 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot replace market rent in yield work.

Realtor.com’s MLS evidence reports 2,315 active listings, up 51.16% year over year, a median 64 days on market, and reductions on 20.19% of listings. Those are visible supply, asking-price and seller-concession measures—not closed-sale prices or independent proof of buyer demand. Separately, QCEW annual covered workplace employment rose 4.47%; it is not resident employment, unemployment or a forecast. Net migration was positive, and inbound mover AGI exceeded outbound by $2,093. Investors represented 12.96% of 6,157 purchases, requiring submarket checks on both tenant depth and buyer competition.

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, with modeled annual expected building-value loss of 0.13%; the model is neither an insurance quote nor a property-specific exposure finding. Zillow’s county home-value change of 2.28% and FHFA’s separate annual repeat-transaction HPI gain of 4.69% point in the same direction, but the index is not a home value and the measures’ periods and methods cannot be averaged. Obtain flood-zone, elevation, claims and insurance evidence, plus rent comps, lease-up history, parcel assessment, condition and closed-sale comps. Without them, net return, flood cost and entry-price conclusions remain unproven.