New Kent County’s tension is a still-rising county value signal against an unmeasured rent base and a loosening visible listing supply. Buy-and-hold buyers should investigate property-level rent and flood costs before relying on appreciation, while yield-focused buyers should be cautious. Zillow’s June 2026 median home value was $452,290, up 3.62% year over year. Separately, FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI increased 2.93% annually. Those measures point in the same direction, but use different methods and periods; the HPI is not a home value and their growth rates should not be combined.
Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $1,655 Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot fill that gap. The effective property-tax rate is 0.64%; it is a carrying-cost input rather than evidence that rent covers ownership costs. Insurance, maintenance, financing terms, vacancy, and property-specific tax assessments are not published, preventing a net-cash-flow or affordability conclusion.
Realtor.com’s June 2026 MLS snapshot shows 178 active listings, 61.82% more than a year earlier. A 13.89% price-reduced share describes seller concessions and visible supply, not closed-sale pricing or buyer demand by itself. Tax-return households produced net migration of 466, while inbound movers had higher average AGI than outbound movers; that combination warrants tenant and owner-occupier verification rather than an assumed demand lift. Purchase mortgages to non-occupants represented 1.29% of purchases, indicating limited documented investor participation but not the identity or strategy of competing buyers.
QCEW workplace employment rose 3.88% in 2025, but it is annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. Leisure and hospitality is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Modeled annual building-value loss is 0.11%, and inland flood is the dominant hazard. Flood-zone status, elevation, insurance quotes, actual leases, vacancy, operating expenses, and closed-sale comparables are not published; without them, an underwriter cannot test property-level resilience, rent coverage, or exit value.