Sussex County presents a yield-versus-carrying-cost tension: Zillow’s June 2026 county median home value was $451,872 and median asking rent was $2,223 per month, alongside a supplied 5.90% gross yield before costs. The effective property-tax rate was 2.32%, which makes property-specific tax bills, insurance, and maintenance central to the result. Cash-flow buyers should investigate those line items; buyers relying on thin expense assumptions should be cautious.
At the same Zillow county observation, home value increased 3.04% year over year and asking rent increased 3.40%. FHFA’s 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI was up 6.57% from its prior annual reading and 66.44% over five years; it is an appreciation index, not a home value, and its different vintage and method cannot be combined with Zillow into a single growth rate. HUD’s $2,205 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate; market rent is published here, so FMR should not replace it in the yield calculation.
Realtor.com’s June 2026 MLS snapshot showed 505 active listings, 37 median days on market, and 10.83% of listings reduced in price. These are visible supply, marketing-time, and seller-concession measures—not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. Net migration was 124 tax-return households, while average income of arriving movers exceeded departing movers by $2,373, a limited household-movement signal. Investor purchase mortgages accounted for 7.44% of purchases, showing some non-owner competition but not the terms, locations, or cash buyers behind transactions.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.12% of building value per year; this is a modeled expected-loss ratio, not a property-level damage estimate or insurance quote. QCEW reports annual covered workplace employment and average weekly wages rose, and names Trade, transportation, and utilities as the largest disclosed private supersector; neither measure is resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. The record does not publish flood-zone or elevation data, insurance premiums, vacancy, operating expenses, property condition, closed-sale comps, or financing terms. Those gaps prevent net-income, insurability, and exit-price conclusions.