Scott County’s decision tension is a falling Zillow county home-value reading against a positive FHFA repeat-transaction index. Income-focused buyers should be cautious until asset-level rents are verified; value-research buyers should investigate why the measures diverge. Zillow’s June 2026 median home value was $89,662, down 4.68% year over year, while FHFA’s annual 2025 HPI rose 4.06%. These are different vintages and methods: the index is not a home value, and their changes cannot be combined.
HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $916 per month, but it is a payment standard rather than measured asking rent. Because market rent is not published, gross yield cannot be computed and FMR cannot fill that gap. The 1.5% effective property-tax rate and $1,446 median annual tax make carrying-cost diligence material, particularly because county medians do not establish a specific parcel’s assessment, exemption, or tax bill. An underwriter needs lease comparables and property-level taxes before testing income coverage.
Demand evidence is mixed rather than proof of tenant or buyer depth. QCEW’s 2025 annual average records 927 covered jobs at county workplaces; it is not resident employment or unemployment. Average weekly covered-worker pay was $1,039, up 8.68%, and Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Net migration was negative 14 tax-return households, although movers entering reported average income $2,834 above movers leaving. Investors accounted for 5% of 20 purchase mortgages, a small observed buyer segment rather than a measure of all transactions.
Risk limits remain material: inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled expected annual building-value loss ratio is 0.25%. That county-level model does not identify a property’s flood exposure, insurance availability, deductible, or mitigation cost. Realtor.com inventory-period listing price, active-listing, days-on-market and reduction data are not published, preventing a read on visible MLS supply, marketing time, and seller concessions; those measures would still be listing-market rather than closed-sale evidence. Next checks are address-level flood and insurance files, market-rent and vacancy comparables, condition and repair scope, and current tax records.