Strafford County merits investigation for investors able to underwrite tax and parcel-specific flood costs, but warrants caution when a modest gross return must absorb those costs amid softer visible listing conditions. The county’s $518,553 median home value and $2,164 monthly median asking rent produce the supplied 5.01% gross yield before expenses. The 1.85% effective property-tax rate is a recurring burden against that price-rent relationship; these county aggregates are not a property pro forma.
Zillow’s county observation is labelled 2026-06: median asking rent rose 3.05% and median home value rose 2.90%. FHFA’s separately labelled 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 5.32%. That index is not a dollar home value, and its vintage and method cannot be blended with Zillow’s figures. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market asking rent; it cannot replace the published rent in gross-yield work.
Realtor.com’s MLS snapshot carries the same label as Zillow’s. Active listings rose 27.17%, marketing time lengthened, and 14.68% of listings had price reductions. These measure visible supply, asking-market time and seller concessions—not closed prices or buyer demand by themselves. Tax-return migration was net positive by 378 households, yet inbound movers’ average AGI was $14,265 below outbound movers’, tempering a simple demand interpretation. Investor buyers represented 6.51% of 1,337 purchases, so non-owner competition exists but is not the whole purchase market.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual climate loss equals 0.12% of building value. This is a county model, not a parcel loss estimate. QCEW shows annual covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment; its named leader, Trade, transportation, and utilities, is the largest disclosed private supersector rather than the whole economy. The record does not publish flood zones, insurance quotes, property condition, operating costs, vacancy, debt terms or closed-sale data. Those gaps prevent net-yield, insurability and exit-liquidity conclusions.