Harney County presents a mixed entry screen: Zillow’s June 2026 county median home value was $219,187, up 3.59%, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI fell 3.88% year over year despite a 58.79% cumulative five-year gain. The later Zillow estimate and earlier FHFA index use different methods and periods, so they cannot support one appreciation conclusion. Investors relying on resale support should investigate transaction-level comparables and remain cautious until the divergence is resolved.
Housing economics are incomplete. No median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $1,008 per month is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot substitute for market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.80%, with a median annual tax bill of $1,943; these county figures inform carrying-cost screening but do not establish the tax bill for a specific property.
County workplace conditions provide a limited demand read. QCEW reported 2,618 annual average covered jobs in 2025, up 2.27%; it is not resident employment or unemployment. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, representing 26.78% of private covered jobs. Migration showed a net loss of 18 tax-return households, while departing households’ average income exceeded arriving households’ by $2,360. Investors represented 7 of 63 purchases, or 11.11%, a small count that does not establish durable buyer competition.
Wildfire is the dominant hazard, and the modeled climate loss ratio is 0.25% of building value per year. That model is not a parcel-level insurance quote, premium, deductible, or mitigation assessment. The record also does not publish Realtor.com listing price, active listings, days on market, or price-reduction data, preventing a visible-supply and marketing-time read. Next checks are property-level rent comparables, tax assessment detail, MLS history, and wildfire insurance and mitigation terms.