Washington Parish presents a split-signal underwriting case: Zillow’s median home value is $138,152, up 3.16%, while FHFA’s repeat-transaction index is up 5.76% in its separately labeled annual vintage and 30.10% on its cumulative five-year, non-annualized measure. The 2.60-percentage-point gap is a calculation, not a blended rate; FHFA is an appreciation index, not a home value. Price support is conditional: weaker employment and migration make this a diligence case, and investors needing rent coverage or resale liquidity should be cautious.
Measured market rent is unpublished, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $834 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot fill the gap. Realtor.com supplies MLS evidence: asking prices rose, active listings contracted, marketing time lengthened, and price reductions appeared. These are not closed-sale prices or proof of demand. Property tax is 0.33%, with a $507 median annual tax; reconcile both with the subject assessment and budget insurance, repairs, vacancy, and management before treating price as low carrying cost.
Demand evidence is mixed. QCEW records 10,948 annual covered jobs in the county, down 1.67%, while average covered-worker wages rose 2.60%; this is workplace employment, not resident employment or unemployment. Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Tax-return flows show net migration of -9, while incoming movers’ average AGI exceeded outgoing movers’ by $2,204, so headcount outflow and mover purchasing power point in different directions. Investor loans were 13.42% of 298 purchase mortgages; that indicates participation, not dominance. Check contracts and closed sales before reading the pending ratio as absorption.
Hurricane is the dominant hazard; modeled climate loss is 0.38% of building value per year. That rate is not an insurance quote or complete catastrophe budget. Check parcel-level flood and wind exposure, deductibles, premiums, claims history, rent-ready condition, and comparable closed rents. Missing market rent prevents a debt-service and gross-yield conclusion; missing financing terms, operating expenses, insurance pricing, vacancy, and property condition prevent a net-cash-flow conclusion. No metro context is supplied, so county aggregates cannot establish target-submarket representativeness.