Wabash County’s decision tension is a $134,309 Zillow median home value in the 2026-06 county observation against an unpublished market rent. Income-property buyers should treat lease verification as the gating task: gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent. HUD Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. Buyers seeking a quick yield screen should be cautious.
Zillow’s value measure gained 3.41% year over year. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI separately increased 10.26% year over year and 50.58% over five years. The index can corroborate a directional appreciation signal but is not a dollar home value; its vintage and method differ from Zillow’s, so those rates should not be blended. A 1.41% effective property-tax rate and $1,475 median annual tax add carrying-cost context, but no MLS listing price, inventory, marketing-time, or price-reduction data are published to test visible for-sale supply.
County workplace conditions are mixed rather than a demand forecast. QCEW annual covered employment at county workplaces fell 1.13%, while the average weekly wage for covered workers increased 8.32%. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not a description of the whole county economy. Tax-return migration was net positive by 6 households, yet inbound movers’ average AGI was $45,283 versus $58,864 for outbound movers; that gap warrants checking tenant and buyer profiles. Purchase-mortgage investor participation was 1.85% of 54 purchases, indicating limited observed non-owner activity rather than all cash or investor buying.
Inland flood is the stated dominant hazard, and the modeled expected annual building-value loss ratio is 0.18%; this is a county-level model, not a parcel loss estimate or insurance quote. Missing market-rent and MLS measures prevent income, yield, tenant-depth, and liquidity conclusions. The record also does not publish property-level flood zone, insurance, condition, financing, or lease data, preventing a property underwriting. Next checks are current lease comparables, tax bills and assessments, flood history and insurance terms, and listing-level competition.