Iron County presents a cash-flow-versus-appreciation tension. Zillow’s county measure places the median home value at $414,273, up 2.63% year over year, while median asking market rent is $1,483 a month, up 0.43%. The supplied 4.30% gross yield is annual market rent before costs. Buyers prepared to test modest pre-expense income against a rising value measure should investigate; investors who require demonstrated net cash flow should be cautious. These county observations do not establish a property’s acquisition price, achievable lease rent, vacancy, or operating expenses.
Measured market rent is distinct from HUD’s $1,120 two-bedroom FMR, a payment standard rather than an asking-rent estimate. The market-rent figure is 32.4% above FMR, a calculation that does not turn FMR into rent evidence. The 0.41% effective property-tax rate is a known carrying charge, not a full expense budget. FHFA’s repeat-transaction annual HPI rose 4.88%, directionally consistent with Zillow’s value increase, but their supplied periods and methods differ; the HPI is not a dollar home value.
Annual QCEW reports 25,896 covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment; trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Tax-return migration shows more households moving in than out, while incoming movers averaged $8,448 more AGI than outgoing movers, a calculation. Investor mortgages were 105 of 947 purchases, or 11.09%. Together, these are demand and buyer-competition context, not proof that tenants or buyers will transact at current rents or values.
Wildfire is the named dominant hazard, and the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.19% of building value annually; this county model is not a property-specific loss estimate. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, days on market, price-reduced share, and pending ratio are not published, so visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions cannot be assessed; listing measures would not be closed-sale evidence anyway. Missing insurance quotes and deductibles, property condition, lease comparables, vacancy, debt terms, and closed-sale comparables prevent net-yield, resilience-cost, and purchase-price underwriting. Next checks are address-level wildfire and insurance review plus current lease and sale comparables.