Calcasieu Parish, LA

Calcasieu Parish presents an income-versus-price-validation tension. Zillow’s county 2026-06 median home value was $202,650, up 2.68%, whereas FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI declined 1.37%. Income-focused buyers should test whether unit rents survive operating costs; appreciation-led buyers should be cautious. The measures cannot be blended: Zillow reports a value observation, while FHFA is an index, and their supplied vintages differ.

At this Zillow observation, median asking rent was $1,268 monthly, up 17.57%, with a stated 7.51% gross yield before costs. This is measured market rent, not HUD’s $1,217 Fair Market Rent, which is a payment standard and cannot replace asking rent or yield. The 0.45% effective property-tax rate is a carrying-cost input, not a full expense estimate. Net yield remains undetermined because insurance, maintenance, vacancy, and financing evidence are not published.

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS market has 715 active listings, a median 87 days on market, and 16.32% of listings reduced. These describe visible asking supply, marketing time, and concessions—not sale prices or buyer demand—and the combination calls for property-level pricing tests. Net migration of 106 tax-return households is positive, but incoming movers’ average AGI was $8,023 below outgoing movers’; the household flow does not by itself establish purchasing power. Investor activity was 153 of 1,755 purchase mortgages, or 8.72%, a defined participation measure rather than proof of broad competitive bidding.

Hurricane is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual climate loss equals 0.33% of building value; this elevates the need for address-level wind, flood, deductible, and insurance-availability review, not a dollar-loss estimate. QCEW is annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment or an outlook; Trade, transportation, and utilities is merely the largest disclosed private supersector, not the entire economy. Missing closed-sale, property-condition, lease, insurance, and flood-history evidence prevents a conclusion on entry value, stabilized net income, or insurability.