Lauderdale County presents an appreciation-versus-income verification problem: price measures are positive, but property income is unmeasured. Investigators focused on property-level rent verification can examine it; readers relying on county averages should be cautious. Zillow's 2026-06 county median home value was $142,798, up 13.48% year over year. Separately, FHFA's 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 8.91% annually and 70.79% over five years. These measures point in the same direction but use different vintages and methods; the HPI is not a home value, and neither establishes a sale price.
No median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. The $925 HUD two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot substitute for market rent. Effective property tax is 0.59%, with a median annual tax of $844; these are carrying-cost inputs but do not establish operating expenses, debt service, or cash flow. The rent gap prevents testing whether the Zillow value supports income after tax.
Realtor.com's 2026-06 MLS evidence warrants a cautious read on buyer competition: 67 active listings had a median 86 days on market, median listing price was down 2.78% year over year, and pending listings equaled 26.87% of active listings. These are asking-price, visible-supply, marketing-time, and listing-conversion indicators—not closed sales or stand-alone proof of buyer demand. QCEW's 2025 county-workplace record reports 6,313 covered jobs. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the county's whole economy or resident employment base.
Migration reinforces mixed demand: net migration was negative 48 tax-return households, although incoming movers had higher average income than outgoing movers. Investor purchase mortgages were 11.52% of 191 purchases, showing some financed investor participation but not all-cash or total investor activity. Expected annual climate loss is 0.23% of building value, a modeled loss measure paired with the earthquake hazard designation rather than a property-specific insurance cost. Next checks are market rents and vacancy, closed-sale comps, condition, and earthquake insurance terms; absent evidence prevents yield, exit-pricing, and location-specific risk conclusions.