Livingston County presents a price-momentum-versus-income-underwriting tension: buyers who can validate rents and flood costs may investigate, while yield-led or low-reserve buyers should be cautious. Zillow’s county median home value was $173,112, up 11.81% year over year. FHFA’s repeat-transaction HPI rose 2.93% in 2025, and 48.5% over five years; it supports an upward direction but not a comparable pace because the observations are differently dated and methodologically distinct, and neither is a sale-price comp.
Income underwriting is constrained because no county market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $1,018 per month is a payment standard, not measured asking rent, and cannot substitute. Carrying costs warrant property-level review: the reported effective property-tax rate is 2.05%, while median annual tax is $2,908; neither establishes the tax bill for a target property. Rent roll, achieved rents, utilities, insurance and assessed value are not published here, preventing a net-cash-flow conclusion.
Realtor.com’s MLS data show a median listing price 22.99% higher than a year earlier, 62 active listings, up 24%, and a 35-day median marketing time, 15.34% shorter. A further 18.79% of listings had price cuts. These are asking-price, visible-supply, marketing-time and concession evidence—not closed-sale prices or buyer-demand proof. Tax-return migration was a net outflow of 47 households, although incoming movers’ average AGI was $2,282 higher. Investor-linked purchase mortgages were 35 of 366, or 9.56%; that is a relevant competitor share but does not reveal bids or property types.
Dominant hazard is inland flood, and the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.24% of building value per year; it is not a property-specific flood determination or dollar loss. QCEW is annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment or a forecast; its wage is a covered-worker average, and Trade, transportation, and utilities is merely the largest disclosed private supersector. Confirm property-level flood exposure, insurance, tax assessment, condition, achieved rents and closed-sale comps before determining coverage, resale or yield.