Wise County has a valuation crosscurrent. Zillow’s county median home value was $135,101 in June 2026, up 2.94% year over year. FHFA’s annual 2025 repeat-transaction HPI, by contrast, declined 1.27%, although its five-year cumulative change was 38.34%. These measures have different methods and supplied vintages: Zillow is a home-value measure, while FHFA is a repeat-transaction index. They must not be averaged into one appreciation rate. Investigators should validate current comparables; buyers relying on a simple appreciation signal should be cautious.
Housing economics do not support a yield screen: market asking rent is not published. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not observed asking rent, so gross yield cannot be calculated. The 0.58% effective property-tax rate is a carrying-cost input, but assessment basis, insurance, and operating costs are not published. Realtor.com’s MLS evidence shows median listing price down 6.42% year over year, 81 median days on market, and 23.74% price-reduced. These are asking-price, marketing-time, and seller-concession indicators—not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand—and require property-level sale and rent checks.
Demand and buyer competition are mixed. Net tax-return migration was 29 households, but incoming movers’ average AGI was $2,446 below outgoing movers’; this does not establish tenant demand. Investor share was 9.91% of purchases, documenting non-owner participation but not bidding intensity or all-cash activity. In QCEW’s 2025 annual series, covered employment at county workplaces declined 0.08%. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy; QCEW is neither resident employment nor an unemployment measure. Tenant inquiries, signed leases, employer concentration, and purchase-financing detail are needed to assess demand and competition.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.18% of building value per year. This county-level estimate is not a parcel loss forecast. Flood-zone status, elevation, prior losses, insurance quotes, and replacement-cost coverage remain necessary. Closed-sale comparables, market rent, vacancy, operating expenses, and parcel tax assessment are not published here; without them, an underwriter cannot establish gross yield, net carrying costs, or a supportable exit price.