Ransom County presents a value-direction conflict, so it warrants comparable-sale work by buyers who can inspect local transactions; those relying on a stable resale trend should be cautious. Zillow’s county median home value for 2026-06 is $198,645, up 8.18% year over year. By contrast, FHFA’s 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI fell 5.64%, while its five-year cumulative change was 42.24%. These are different vintages and methods, so they challenge a simple price narrative and cannot be averaged into a growth rate.
No county market asking rent is published, preventing a gross-yield calculation. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $923 per month is a payment standard, not a measured asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. The effective property-tax rate is 1.02%, with median annual tax of $1,959; these are known carrying-cost inputs, but insurance, maintenance, assessment treatment, and utility responsibilities are not published.
Migration and workplace evidence do not establish tenant demand. The tax-return record shows net migration of -19 households, and incoming movers’ average income was $5,936 below outgoing movers’ average. QCEW’s 2025 annual covered workplace count was 1,981 jobs, down 0.80%, with a $998 average weekly covered-worker wage. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector. Two of 37 purchase mortgages went to non-occupants, a 5.41% investor share: a small observed buyer-participation measure, not investor ownership or total purchase demand.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.21% of building value expected annually; it is not a parcel-specific loss estimate. Realtor.com’s 2026-06 source label is present, but median MLS asking price, active listings, days on market, price reductions, and pending activity are not published. That prevents a reading of visible supply, marketing time, seller concessions, or MLS competition; those measures would still not be closed-sale proof. Next checks are property-level flood exposure and insurance, current market-rent evidence, closed comparable sales, and tax-assessment records.