Floyd County presents a carrying-cost versus liquidity tension: market income is observable, but resale conditions merit scrutiny. Income-focused buyers who can verify unit expenses should investigate; buyers relying on a quick exit or unverified tenant demand should be cautious. Zillow’s county median home value is $291,521, up 3.27% year over year, while median asking rent is $1,193 per month. The stated 4.91% gross yield uses measured market rent and is before operating costs, vacancies, financing, insurance, and taxes.
FHFA’s annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 6.62% year over year and 54.12% cumulatively over five years. It is an appreciation index, not a dollar home value; its method and supplied period differ from Zillow’s county series, so the rates should not be averaged. HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate and not a substitute for the published market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.69%, with a $1,736 median annual bill; those carrying costs narrow the pre-expense yield rather than refute it.
Demand evidence is mixed. QCEW’s annual covered jobs at county workplaces—not resident employment or unemployment—grew 1.88%, while its covered-worker average weekly wage rose 3.19%. Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not a description of the whole economy. Realtor.com’s MLS active listings rose 47.79%; its 37-day median marketing time and 20.69% price-reduced share describe visible supply, asking-market timing, and seller concessions, not closed sales or buyer demand alone. Tax-return migration shows net in-movement and higher average AGI for arrivals than departures, but does not identify renters. Investor purchase mortgages represent 7.19% of 1,140 total purchases, requiring investor activity to be read against the full purchase base.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected climate loss equals 0.15% of building value per year; it is a modeled county-level ratio, not a property insurance quote or site loss. The record does not publish unit-level rent comparables, vacancy, operating expenses, flood-zone status, insurance terms, property condition, or closed-sale prices. Their absence prevents a net-yield underwriting and a realizable exit-price conclusion; next checks should obtain those items and inspect location-specific flood exposure.