Mobile County, AL

Mobile County presents an underwriting tension: a supplied 8.06% gross yield beside a soft near-term value signal. Zillow’s county observation puts median home value at $198,842, down 0.13%, while measured median asking rent is $1,335 per month and is rising. That pairing warrants investigation by income-focused buyers who can validate expenses and unit rents; buyers dependent on resale momentum should be cautious. The yield is annual market rent before costs, not a return estimate.

That measured rent is market asking rent. HUD’s supplied two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than evidence of asking rent; it cannot replace market rent in a yield calculation. The effective property-tax rate is 0.47%, so gross yield must absorb tax plus unreported operating, insurance, financing and capital costs. FHFA’s annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 2.21%; it is an index, not a home value. Its direction differs from Zillow’s observation, and their methods and vintages must not be averaged.

Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market evidence shows 1,307 active listings, 5.53% fewer than a year earlier, but median marketing time was 70 days and 19.01% of listings had reductions. Lower visible supply therefore sits alongside slower marketing and concessions, not proof of buyer demand. QCEW’s annual county workplace data show covered employment slipped 0.06%; Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Net tax-return migration was minus 329 households, and movers leaving had average income $2,258 above movers arriving; this does not support assuming stronger incoming purchasing power. Investor purchase mortgages represented 7.58% of purchases, showing some competition but not property-level pricing power.

Hurricane is the dominant hazard, with modeled annual expected building-value loss of 0.34%; this is a county-level model, not a parcel-specific loss estimate. Insurance premiums, wind and flood deductibles, elevation, repair needs, vacancy, lease terms, closed-sale comparables and financing terms are not published. Their absence prevents a property-level net-cash-flow, insurance-cost and exit-value conclusion. Next checks should test those items at the target address and compare current achievable rent with concessions in its specific submarket.