Pope County presents a modest-yield, carrying-cost-versus-market-liquidity tension: its $216,085 Zillow median home value and $969 monthly median asking rent produce the supplied 5.38% gross yield before expenses. This merits investigation by buyers able to validate property-level costs and rents; it warrants caution for buyers relying on price appreciation or rapid resale. The rent is a measured market asking-rent statistic, so the yield is not a cash-flow result and does not establish an achievable lease for a particular home.
HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $938 is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and must not be substituted for market rent. The effective property-tax rate of 0.56% and median annual tax of $945 are concrete carrying-cost inputs against the gross yield, but insurance, maintenance, financing and vacancy are not published. FHFA’s separate annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 3.18%; it is not a dollar home value and cannot be combined with Zillow’s county reading into one appreciation rate.
Realtor.com MLS evidence points to a tighter visible listing set but is not a transaction record: 157 active listings, down 17.85%, accompanied a 15.36% increase in median listing price. Those are active asking prices and supply, not a closed-sale price or proof of buyer demand. A 14.79% price-reduced share tempers that read by showing seller concessions. Investor purchases were 15.16% of all purchases, or 107 of 706, indicating a meaningful competing buyer segment but not its pricing power.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, with modeled expected annual climate loss of 0.23% of building value; this is a ratio, not a projected dollar loss, and requires parcel flood, elevation, insurance and deductible review. Tax-return migration was net positive and in-movers’ average AGI was higher than out-movers’, but neither establishes tenant demand. QCEW annual covered employment at county workplaces declined slightly while covered wages rose; Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Missing closed-sale comps, property-level rent and occupancy evidence, operating costs, and flood-insurance terms prevent underwriting net income, valuation and exit liquidity.