Valencia County’s decision tension is an apparently workable supplied gross yield against a weak rent-growth backdrop: at the Zillow county observation labeled 2026-06, the $317,754 median home value and $1,885 monthly median asking rent imply a 7.12% gross yield before costs, while value rose 3.12% year over year. Operators should investigate tenant depth and expenses; purchasers whose case requires rapid rent expansion or appreciation should be cautious. This is county-level evidence, not a statement about Albuquerque.
The asking-rent measure is distinct from HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent, which is a payment standard and cannot replace market rent in yield work. The 0.62% effective property-tax rate adds a carrying-cost check to the price/rent relationship, but parcel assessments and actual bills still matter. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 4.78% annually. It corroborates a positive price direction, but its method and labeled period differ from Zillow’s county observation, so the rates cannot be averaged.
Realtor.com’s MLS listing evidence suggests selling friction rather than closed-sale proof: median days on market were 67, and 20.8% of listings had a price reduction. Tax-return migration was net positive by 414 households; movers in had average AGI $5,686 above movers out, an income-quality signal that does not establish renter demand. The supplied investor measure shows 26 non-occupant purchase mortgages, 2.13% of 1,220 purchases, indicating limited visible financed investor participation but excluding cash buyers. QCEW identifies Trade, transportation, and utilities as the largest disclosed private supersector; its annual data cover workplaces, not resident employment.
Inland flood is the named dominant hazard, while modeled climate loss equals 0.24% of building value per year; it is a model, not a parcel loss estimate or insurance quote. Missing property-level flood maps, elevation, replacement-cost and insurance evidence prevent pricing flood exposure. Missing vacancy, operating expenses, lease mix, and turnover prevent conversion of gross yield to net income; closed-sale comparables and parcel tax assessments are also not published, preventing a transaction-level value and carrying-cost test.