Iredell County presents a split decision: Zillow's 2026-06 median home value is $390,856, up 1.21%, while median asking rent is $1,643, producing a 5.04% gross yield before costs. That supports a selective cash-flow screen, not an appreciation thesis. FHFA's 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 3.58%; its different vintage and method challenge Zillow's slower direction, but FHFA is not a dollar home value and the measures should not be averaged. Appreciation-sensitive buyers should be cautious, while flood-exposed properties warrant investigation.
Market rent is separate from HUD: the two-bedroom FMR is $1,340, and market rent is 122.60% of that payment standard; FMR is not asking-rent evidence. The gross yield is before costs. The 0.61% effective property-tax rate and $1,952 median annual tax belong in carrying-cost analysis, alongside missing insurance, maintenance, vacancy, management, financing, and flood costs. Without those inputs, net yield and cash-on-cash return cannot be determined.
Demand evidence is constructive but bounded. Tax-return flows show net migration of 1,418, while inbound average AGI exceeds outbound average AGI by $2,625; that supports tenant-depth investigation, not proof of rents, occupancy, or permanence. QCEW's covered employment fell 0.34% while average weekly wages rose 3.37%. The largest disclosed private supersector is Trade, transportation, and utilities, so this labor signal is not the whole economy. Investor mortgages accounted for 265 of 3,533 purchase mortgages, or 7.50%: present, but not dominant in this record. Underwrite owner-occupant competition and property-specific demand rather than assume investor-led pricing.
Risk limits are material. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.11% of building value expected per year; that is not an insurance quote or dollar repair estimate. Realtor.com MLS fields are absent: median listing price, active listings, days on market, price-reduced share, and pending ratio are unavailable. The record therefore cannot establish visible supply, marketing time, seller concessions, closed-sale pricing, or buyer demand. Next checks are parcel flood review, insurance and operating-cost quotes, lease comparables, and MLS supply and transaction evidence. The result remains a gross-yield screen, not a complete acquisition case.