Dubois County is a conditional rental-underwriting case: the reported median home value was $266,632, while published median asking rent was $1,275 per month and reported gross yield was 5.74% before costs. Investors able to verify parcel-level flood insurance, operating costs and lease demand should investigate; buyers relying on resale liquidity or an untested expense budget should be cautious. The tension is a published income measure against carrying-cost, hazard and demand evidence that remains incomplete.
Zillow’s county value rose 6.02% at its June 2026 observation, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 7.68% annually. The directions align, but they use different vintages and methods and must not be averaged or treated as a dollar value. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market asking rent; published market rent is 33.4% above it by calculation. The effective property-tax rate is 0.66%, qualifying the pre-cost yield; net yield cannot be established from the record.
Realtor.com’s June 2026 MLS listing market showed active listings up 15.04%, a median 47 days on market, and 14.93% of listings with price reductions. This describes visible asking supply, marketing time and seller concessions—not closed-sale prices or buyer demand alone. Tax-return migration showed a net household outflow, although incoming movers’ average income exceeded outgoing movers’ by $967. Non-occupant purchase mortgages were 5.46% of purchases, limiting the evidence of investor competition rather than proving its absence.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, with modeled annual building-value loss of 0.13%; it is not a parcel-specific loss or insurance estimate. QCEW’s 2025 annual covered workplace employment fell 0.33%, and Manufacturing, the largest disclosed private supersector, represented 42.09% of private covered jobs. These are workplace measures, not resident employment, unemployment or a forecast. Missing vacancy, achieved rents, operating expenses, insurance quotes, property condition, financing terms and closed-sale comparables prevent net-cash-flow, debt-service and acquisition-value conclusions; those items require property-level review.