Lewis and Clark County presents a valuation-versus-income tension: Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value was $471,902 against published median asking rent of $1,648 per month, yielding 4.19% before operating costs. The Zillow value rose 2.93% year over year, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 5.15%. Both point upward, but they are different vintages and methods; FHFA is an index, not a home value, and their changes should not be combined. Yield-sensitive buyers should investigate property-level expenses before treating appreciation as support for cash flow.
Market rent, not HUD’s supplied two-bedroom FMR payment standard, supports the stated gross yield; FMR is not an estimate of asking rent. An effective property-tax rate of 0.79% adds a recurring carrying-cost consideration against the value/rent relationship. Gross yield is before tax, insurance, maintenance, financing and vacancy, so net yield cannot be established from this record. Parcel assessments, insurance quotes, utilities, HOA dues and operating histories are not published, preventing a defensible all-in cash-flow conclusion.
Realtor.com’s MLS evidence gives a mixed marketing picture rather than closed-sale evidence: median days on market were 51, 19.03% of listings had price reductions, and the pending-to-active ratio was 51.66%. Longer marketing time and reductions indicate seller concessions, while the pending ratio is only a listing pipeline measure and does not prove buyer demand. Tax-return migration was net positive by 185 households, with inbound movers’ average income $4,065 above outbound movers’; this is limited to movers, not all residents. Investors accounted for 7.49% of 788 purchase mortgages, a bounded presence rather than evidence that investors set county pricing.
Annual QCEW evidence shows covered workplace employment declined while average weekly wages increased; it is neither resident employment nor an unemployment measure. Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual building-value loss is 0.13%; use it as a modeled risk screen, not a property loss estimate. Flood-zone, insurance, elevation, claims, loan terms, comparable closed sales and lease-level vacancy data are not published; without them, hazard-adjusted pricing, debt coverage and exit liquidity remain untested.