Racine County presents a usable but cost-sensitive income case: Zillow’s 2026-06 county median value was $317,199 and median asking rent $1,462 per month, producing the supplied 5.53% gross yield before operating costs. Income-focused investors should test whether that spread survives taxes, insurance, maintenance and vacancy; appreciation-led buyers should be cautious. This is county-level evidence, not a property or neighborhood conclusion.
Zillow’s county series shows value growth of 4.83% and asking-rent growth of 3.12%, so price moved faster than rent over that labeled observation. The effective property-tax rate is 1.63%, a carrying-cost check against gross—not net—yield. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market asking rent, and cannot replace published rent in yield work. Unpublished operating expenses and unit-level rent comparables prevent a net-yield conclusion.
FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 7.94% annually and 57.30% cumulatively over five years. It supports positive historical price direction but is an index, not a home value, and cannot be averaged with Zillow’s differently dated, differently constructed change. Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS evidence reports 427 active listings and 14.82% reduced-price share; its days-on-market figure measures marketing time. These are asking-market supply, seller-concession and marketing-time evidence, not closed-sale pricing or proof of buyer demand.
Demand evidence is mixed: QCEW’s annual county workplace series reports covered employment down while covered-worker wages rose, and Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Net migration was positive and inbound movers had higher average AGI than outbound movers, but neither establishes tenant absorption. The 10.55% investor share is measured against 2,151 purchases, showing competition without asset-type or bid data. Inland flood is the dominant hazard; modeled annual building-value loss is 0.09%, requiring parcel-level flood, insurance and mitigation review. Missing transaction comps, insurance quotes, flood-zone details and debt terms prevent purchase-price and risk-adjusted cash-flow conclusions.