Williams County, ND

Williams County presents a price-rent tension: investors who can verify unit-level rent and flood costs should investigate, while buyers relying on appreciation or headline yield should be cautious. At Zillow’s 2026-06 county observation, the median home value was $355,783, up 6.19% year over year, while published median asking rent was $1,256 per month, down 3.25%. The supplied 4.24% gross yield is based on annual market rent before costs; it is not a net-return measure.

FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 6.82%, which directionally supports Zillow’s positive value change, but it is an index rather than a dollar home value and the observations use different methods and periods. HUD Fair Market Rent is separately a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, so it cannot replace the published market rent or be used to create another yield. An effective property-tax rate of 0.68% adds a known carrying-cost claim against gross rent; insurance, repairs, vacancy and financing costs are not published, preventing net-yield underwriting.

Tax-return migration was net positive by 341 households, yet average AGI of inbound movers was $13,452 below that of outbound movers. That mix supplies no proof of higher local purchasing capacity. Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS snapshot showed active listings up 12.95% and 12.37% of listings price-reduced; these are visible supply and seller-concession evidence, not closed-sale prices or stand-alone buyer demand. Investor purchase mortgages represented 5.4% of total purchase mortgages, a nonowner-financed participation measure rather than a count of cash buyers or all investor activity.

Inland flood is the named dominant hazard, and the reported modeled annual building-value loss ratio should be treated as county-level risk screening, not a parcel loss estimate. Annual QCEW is workplace-based covered employment, not resident employment or unemployment; Natural resources and mining is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole county economy. Before a decision, obtain subject rent rolls and lease concessions, sale comparables, flood-zone and insurance quotes, operating expenses, financing terms, and property condition. Their absence prevents parcel-level net-yield, transaction-value, and hazard-cost conclusions.