Harrison County is a valuation-versus-market-depth case, suited to investigators who can verify neighborhood sales and lease evidence and requiring caution from buyers relying on county medians. Zillow’s county median home value was $209,115 in 2026-06, down 1.43% year over year, whereas the FHFA repeat-transaction HPI for 2025 rose 7.27%. The measures have different dates and methods: FHFA is an appreciation index, not a dollar value, so neither series resolves current executable pricing and their changes should not be averaged.
Measured median asking rent of $1,341 per month, rather than HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $1,260, supports the supplied 7.70% gross yield before costs. FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot replace the measured rent in yield work. The 0.98% effective property-tax rate and $1,758 median annual tax sharpen carrying-cost review against the price and rent measures. Vacancy, repairs, insurance, financing, and property-level assessments are not published, so gross yield is not net income.
Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market evidence shows expanding active supply, longer marketing time, and price reductions; these are asking-price and seller-concession signals, not closed-sale outcomes or proof of buyer demand. Net migration was positive, and average income for incoming moving households exceeded that of outgoing households, but this composition evidence does not establish tenure or lease demand. Investor participation, measured as non-occupant purchase mortgages, was 11.64% of 670 total purchases. The combination warrants checking who leases and buys locally rather than treating migration as tenant absorption.
Risk limits remain material. QCEW annual county-workplace data show covered employment down 2.29% while average weekly covered-worker wage rose 7.11%; Manufacturing, the largest disclosed private supersector, represented 29.10% of private covered jobs rather than the whole economy. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.11%. Property flood-zone status, insurance quotes, lease comparables, operating expenses, vacancy, and closed-sale comparables are not published; their absence prevents net-yield, hazard-cost, and acquisition-price underwriting.