Albany’s 12208 label is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match; a ZCTA is a statistical area, not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. At the June 2026 endpoint, Zillow’s ZIP-level ZORI stood at $1,587, a 5.34% increase from the same month a year earlier. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it is a current market signal rather than a lease quote for any unit. That rent advance sits beside a different direct ZIP signal: Redfin’s rolling-three-month for-sale observation reported a $324,927 median sold price, down 1.54% year over year. The immediate tension is rising asking rent alongside slightly softer median resale pricing.
Resale liquidity adds nuance to that tension. In the direct ZIP resale window, 59 homes sold with a median of 7 days on market. The inventory measure was 28 homes, while months of supply stood at 1.4. Sales averaged 105.49% of list price, and the above-list share was substantial. These are for-sale-market observations, not rental transactions, rental comparables, or property-level economics. Fast marketing and a sale-to-list premium support evidence of active resale trading, yet the median sale-price decline challenges any simple reading of uniformly strengthening resale values. Rent growth therefore cannot be assumed to translate directly into rising home-sale prices.
The asking-rent history fits the supplied stable-growth category. Coverage is complete at 100% across 65 monthly observations, producing 64 consecutive monthly changes. Exact same-month annualized gains were 5.34% over one year, 4.84% over three years, and 4.87% over five years. The latest annual direction therefore confirms, rather than breaks from, the longer rent path. Annualized monthly-return variability of 2.25% indicates relatively limited movement in the observed index. Separately, the maximum peak-to-trough drawdown was 1.57%, a shallow historical setback. Those measures support moderate confidence in the continuity of the current index snapshot, though not in the rent of a specific listing. Transparent national discovery ranks were 303 for momentum, 342 for stability, and 52 for the balanced measure; lower ranks are stronger, and all are backward-looking discovery tools rather than forecasts or investment recommendations.
Source boundaries explain why rent levels do not line up perfectly. The matched Census ZCTA five-year ACS survey reports median gross rent of $1,320; it covers occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, rather than measuring current asking rent. The difference from ZORI is therefore a difference of universe and timing, not proof that either source is wrong or that a particular apartment is over- or underpriced. For wider context, Albany city’s asking-rent context is $1,611, Albany County’s asking-rent context is $1,649, and the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro asking-rent context is $1,679. Those city, county, and metro figures are broader-area context only and do not replace the direct ZIP reading.
The bedroom ladder is useful only when described as a model. Studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom, and four-bedroom modelled ZIP estimates are $1,135, $1,321, $1,587, $1,903, and $2,101, respectively. These are modelled estimates created by scaling ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder; they are never measured bedroom rents. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. The corresponding HUD standard is $1,702, versus the modelled $1,587 at that point. That comparison can frame the size progression, but it cannot establish the asking rent, utility treatment, condition, or availability of any specific bedroom type.
The required-income screen is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. At a 30% rent-to-income threshold, the current ZORI implies required annual household income of $63,480, compared with a matched-ZCTA median household income of $70,413. ACS also reports that 2,832 of 5,809 renter households were burdened at or above that threshold, equal to 48.8%. This burden measure reflects reported household circumstances in a survey of occupied renter homes, with survey uncertainty, rather than the finances of a current renter or the affordability of a particular unit. It does, however, make the current asking-rent level more relevant to household-income dispersion than the area median alone suggests.
Housing composition and vacancy provide a separate stock lens. The ZCTA contains 11,583 housing units, and its overall vacancy rate is 8.6%. Its stock includes both single-family homes and large multifamily structures, so the ZIP-wide rent index blends conditions across different rental forms. Overall vacancy is not the same as immediately rentable inventory, and the separately reported vacant-for-rent category cannot prove that any available unit matches the ZORI level, bedroom model, or utility assumptions. Likewise, renter occupancy and burden statistics describe aggregate households, not landlord behavior, lease concessions, or the condition of an individual residence.
Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the direct ZIP median sold price produces a 5.86% cross-source screening ratio. It is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield because it excludes operating costs, financing, taxes, vacancies, actual lease rents, and property-specific sale prices. The central evidence tension remains clear: rent history and the latest asking-rent change are positive, while resale activity appears liquid but median sale pricing is modestly lower. Before attaching either screen to a property, a property-level review should verify the actual advertised rent and concessions, stated bedroom count, included utilities, lease terms, current availability, physical condition, and the relevant sale and list-price record. Does that unit-level evidence support the ZIP-wide screens, or expose a material mismatch between them?
","findings":[{"body":"The latest asking-rent index rose in line with both the intermediate and longer historical path. Limited observed monthly variation and a shallow prior decline make the ZIP index more internally consistent than a one-month reading alone. That continuity applies to the blended asking-rent measure, not to every available apartment, lease renewal, or bedroom type.","title":"Rent path is steady, not unit-specific"},{"body":"ZORI, ACS gross rent, and HUD standards answer different questions. The rent index reflects observed asking rents, the ACS survey reflects occupied renter homes with selected utilities, and HUD provides an administrative bedroom standard. Their differences should be treated as scope and timing distinctions, rather than converted into a claim about a particular unit’s market value or affordability.","title":"Source differences are decision-relevant"},{"body":"The direct ZIP resale evidence shows quick marketing, limited supply, and sale-to-list strength, which supports an active for-sale market reading. At the same time, median sold pricing declined from the prior year. This creates a meaningful contrast with the positive asking-rent trend and prevents a simple conclusion that every housing-market indicator is moving in the same direction.","title":"Resale signals are active but mixed"},{"body":"The income screen places the current asking-rent index near the ZCTA household-income midpoint, while a large share of surveyed renter households report substantial rent burden. That combination is informative about aggregate pressure, but it does not identify the financial position of a prospective tenant, the actual all-in rent of a listing, or whether a landlord will accept a given applicant.","title":"Affordability requires household-level caution"}],"risks":["Zillow asking rent, ACS gross rent, HUD standards, and Redfin resale data are separate evidence universes with different timing, populations, and definitions, so direct substitution can create misleading conclusions.","The Redfin observation summarizes ZIP resale activity over a rolling period. It cannot establish a specific property’s sale value, rental demand, operating costs, or relationship between a sale and a lease.","ACS ZCTA results are survey estimates for a statistical area rather than USPS delivery boundaries, and margins of error plus included-utility treatment can materially affect comparisons with current advertised rents.","Bedroom figures are modelled from the ZIP rent index and HUD ladder. Actual listings can differ because of utilities, concessions, lease structure, condition, availability, and property-specific features not supplied here."],"qa":[{"a":"The measures describe different populations and concepts. Zillow ZORI is a current typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a multi-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Timing, lease vintages, utility treatment, and the distinction between asking and occupied rents can all create a gap.","q":"Why is the current Zillow rent level higher than ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. They are modelled ZIP estimates created by applying the local HUD bedroom ladder to the ZIP-wide Zillow rent index. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not an asking-rent dataset. The estimates help frame relative bedroom sizing, but they do not replace actual unit listings or signed lease evidence.","q":"Are the bedroom rent figures observed rents for available apartments?"},{"a":"It should be read as a cross-universe tension rather than a contradiction that one source resolves. The rent index showed continued historical growth, while direct ZIP resale data showed active marketing and sale-to-list strength but a lower median sold price than the prior year. Neither trend establishes causation, and neither is a forecast of the other.","q":"How should the resale price decline be read alongside rent growth?"},{"a":"The supplied data cannot verify the economics or availability of a particular residence. A property-level review should confirm the actual asking rent, concessions, bedroom count, included utilities, lease duration, move-in timing, physical condition, and relevant sale and list-price history. Those details determine whether the ZIP index, modelled bedroom estimate, affordability screen, and resale evidence apply to the unit.","q":"What property-level checks remain necessary after reviewing this ZIP report?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html"},{"key":"realtor_county","name":"Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory","release":"county inventory 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-28","url":"https://www.realtor.com/research/data/"},{"key":"redfin","name":"Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts","release":"metro tracker through 2026-05-01","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"redfin_zip","name":"Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply","release":"ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03","pulledAt":"2026-08-12","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"zillow_county","name":"Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents","release":"county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori","name":"Zillow ZORI — metro market rents","release":"Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_city","name":"Zillow ZORI — city market rents","release":"zillow_zori_city.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-29","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_zip","name":"Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents","release":"ZORI ZIP 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"}],"history":[{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1207.200287},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1213.403793},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1229.784136},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1235.269238},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1250.769359},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1245.280418},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1252.488062},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1240.669347},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1247.690719},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1255.789263},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1274.789408},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1286.025373},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1277.220617},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1283.801145},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1287.398834},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1304.165574},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1294.806439},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1308.578581},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1316.66098},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1347.947148},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1358.960209},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1379.534133},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1371.719149},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1362.516885},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1357.853917},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1364.151584},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1371.314162},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1367.483817},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1376.709588},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1381.872039},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1391.496341},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1387.973645},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1404.633416},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1392.827431},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1403.832095},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1411.678794},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1430.573859},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1432.72758},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1431.67523},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1433.294708},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1443.92489},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1441.851421},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1450.485402},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1460.847805},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1462.227743},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1483.266922},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1485.481759},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1481.889714},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1479.264533},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1478.660032},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1490.155833},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1495.44259},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1506.161647},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1515.564959},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1515.586278},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1516.980343},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1519.361258},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1518.933901},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1527.77397},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1543.515749},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1553.241144},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1567.101168},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1573.250679},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1585.165858},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1586.594444}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":65,"firstPeriod":"2021-02-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":65,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1506.161647,"endRent":1586.594444,"change":0.05340249976502043,"cagr":0.05340249976502043},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1376.709588,"endRent":1586.594444,"change":0.15245398000380606,"cagr":0.04843424378714145},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1250.769359,"endRent":1586.594444,"change":0.26849481287940646,"cagr":0.048715626078029484}},"maxDrawdown":-0.01571560679898032,"annualizedVolatility":0.022485111978431973,"consecutiveReturnCount":64}}