Price and rent signals move at different speeds in this ZIP. In the direct Redfin rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation at the stated endpoint, median sold price was $237,446, up 13.88% year over year. Zillow’s ZIP ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rose 4.13% over the corresponding annual interval. Annualized ZORI divided by that sale price produces a 7.40% cross-source screening ratio only; it is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The tension is material: the resale-price move is much larger than the asking-rent move, but neither measure establishes the economics of a specific home.
The same direct ZIP for-sale observation records 86 homes sold and a median 53 days on market. Inventory was 191 homes, 49.51% above the prior year, with 6.7 months of supply. The average sale-to-list result was 98.13%, and 25.02% of sales closed above list. Those are resale liquidity and negotiation signals, not rental transactions or rental comps. Rising inventory and the supply reading complicate a simple reading of the sharp sale-price increase: completed-sale pricing confirms a for-sale change, whereas the inventory and timing evidence challenge any assertion that it automatically represents faster rent growth or unit-level demand.
The five-digit 15212 label is Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and the match to the Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. The June 2026 Zillow ZIP ZORI is $1,465. Pittsburgh city context is $1,592.60, Allegheny County context is $1,551, and Pittsburgh, PA metro context is $1,523; these are city, county, and metro context values rather than ZIP observations. The matched ACS 2024 five-year survey places median gross rent at $1,155 for occupied renter homes, including selected utilities. ZORI tracks asking rents, while ACS measures survey-reported occupied-home gross rent; the gap reflects different timing, populations, and utility treatment, not a direct contradiction.
Bedroom figures require a separate construction. The studio, one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom amounts of $1,129, $1,215, $1,465, $1,877, and $2,018 are modelled monthly ZIP estimates, not measured bedroom rents. They scale ZIP ZORI using the local HUD ladder. In FY2026, HUD FMR/SAFMR supplies the bedroom-specific administrative sizing standard; it is not asking rent. ZORI remains a blended observed asking-rent index. This model supplies a consistent size bracket but cannot establish a listed unit’s actual bedroom rent, utilities, condition, or lease terms.
The affordability screen produces a second, separate tension. Matched ACS median household income is $64,077. Applying the 30% screen to current ZORI results in $58,600 of required annual income, putting the index at 27.44% of median household income. This is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule; it does not determine what any household can pay. In the same ACS renter universe, 3,292 of 7,096 renter households—or 46.39%—are at or above the burden threshold. That burden measure concerns occupied renter homes and gross rent with selected utilities, so it cannot prove that a particular available unit will be affordable.
ZCTA housing composition gives context to burden and availability without resolving either. The ACS geography contains 16,129 housing units, with a majority single-family stock alongside a large-multifamily component; owner and renter occupancy are nearly evenly divided. Its vacancy rate is 11.80%. This is below the Pittsburgh city context vacancy rate and above the Allegheny County context vacancy rate, both wider-area context measures rather than ZIP listing evidence. Reported vacancies include homes categorized for rent and for sale, but vacancy is not proof of availability, price, or condition at a particular unit. Nor does the structural mix identify whether a current listing participates in the ZORI measure.
History supplies positive trend evidence, though it should not turn a current index point into certainty. The series has 100% coverage across 116 monthly observations and 115 consecutive monthly returns, reducing concern that the measured path reflects gaps. Exact same-month annualized ZORI changes were 4.13% over one year, 3.43% over three years, and 5.26% over five years. Recent direction therefore confirms the multi-year rise and runs faster than the three-year path, but breaks from the stronger five-year path. Monthly movements produced 3.36% annualized variability, so a current snapshot needs trend context. The worst historical peak-to-trough drawdown was 3.86%, evidence of a prior pullback rather than a forecast. The transparent national discovery ranks are 693 for momentum, 2,101 for stability, and 1,202 for balanced; lower ranks are higher. These are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Boundaries between sources remain decisive. ZORI cannot supply an individual unit’s actual rent or included utilities; the ACS ZCTA survey cannot identify a current vacancy; the HUD ladder cannot replace a listing quote; and Redfin resale records cannot stand in for rental transactions. Concrete property-level checks include the advertised rent, bedroom count, utility package, lease term, availability status, property type, condition, and the precise geographic match. On the resale side, relevant record fields include sale price, sale date, marketing history, and list-to-sale terms under the direct ZIP definitions. The remaining decision question is: do the specific unit and transaction facts align with the separate rental, survey, HUD, and resale measurement universes?
","findings":[{"body":"At the current reading, the ZIP asking-rent index sits below the Pittsburgh city, Allegheny County, and Pittsburgh, PA metro context figures, while exceeding matched ACS median gross rent. The gap is a universe distinction: ZORI tracks typical observed asking rents blended across rental types, while ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. They are not interchangeable rent comps.","title":"Rent-source separation"},{"body":"The bedroom series is a model rather than a set of observed apartment quotes. It keeps the ZIP ZORI as its two-bedroom anchor and applies the local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder to create studio through four-bedroom estimates. HUD is a bedroom-specific administrative standard, not asking rent. Actual listings can differ by utilities, condition, lease details, and the rental types represented in the blended index.","title":"Modelled bedroom ladder"},{"body":"Complete monthly history points to rent growth across the one-, three-, and five-year windows, but the latest annual pace sits between the medium- and long-window rates. The movement record and historical pullback mean a current index reading is best read as an observed point within a path. The discovery ranks are comparative, lower-is-higher signals, not forecasts, investment advice, or guarantees.","title":"History has a split tempo"},{"body":"Redfin’s ZIP resale data show a sharp price increase alongside more inventory, extended supply, and below-list average sale-to-list results. That mix confirms a change in completed for-sale transactions but does not identify rental demand, rent collections, property expenses, or the economics of a specific asset. The annualized rent-to-price figure remains a cross-source screen only, never a property yield or expected return.","title":"Resale strength has liquidity friction"}],"risks":["ZCTA estimates summarize a statistical area rather than USPS delivery boundaries; a listed property’s location, occupancy, utilities, and rent terms may not align with the survey or ZIP index.","ACS gross-rent and burden figures are five-year survey estimates for occupied renter homes, with stated margins of error, so they cannot establish affordability or payment stress for a current listing.","Modelled bedroom estimates inherit both the blended ZORI composition and the HUD ladder. They can differ materially from a unit’s advertised rent, included utilities, condition, configuration, or lease period.","Redfin measures completed ZIP resale activity over a rolling period, not rental transactions. Sale price, supply, and sale-to-list indicators therefore cannot be treated as rental comps, cap rates, or unit-level returns."],"qa":[{"a":"ZORI is a current typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types in Zillow’s ZIP market. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey statistic for occupied renter homes in the matched ZCTA and includes selected utilities. Different timing, populations, rent definitions, and geography conventions make the gap informative but not a direct discrepancy.","q":"Why is the ZORI higher than ACS gross rent?"},{"a":"No. They are modelled monthly ZIP estimates built by scaling the blended ZIP ZORI with the local HUD FMR/SAFMR bedroom ladder. HUD is a bedroom-specific administrative standard, not a survey of asking rents. The estimates cannot identify the rent, utility package, condition, or lease terms of an individual studio, apartment, or house.","q":"Are the bedroom amounts observed rents?"},{"a":"The history series has full reported coverage and supplies exact same-month comparisons across three windows, but it is entirely backward looking. Variability and maximum drawdown show past movement around the trend, so the current index is a useful observed snapshot rather than a fixed future rent, forecast, or investment conclusion.","q":"How should the rent history affect confidence in the current index?"},{"a":"It divides annualized ZIP ZORI by the median price in Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation. Because numerator and denominator come from separate sources, it is only a cross-source screening ratio. It omits operating expenses, financing, vacancy at any home, taxes, condition, lease terms, and property-specific transaction details; it is not a cap rate, yield, net return, or expected return.","q":"What does the annualized rent-to-sale-price ratio mean?"}],"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 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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":"2016-11-01","rent":935.240341},{"period":"2016-12-01","rent":947.029558},{"period":"2017-01-01","rent":933.435566},{"period":"2017-02-01","rent":929.744378},{"period":"2017-03-01","rent":914.076251},{"period":"2017-04-01","rent":913.319152},{"period":"2017-05-01","rent":920.778365},{"period":"2017-06-01","rent":938.250701},{"period":"2017-07-01","rent":945.08608},{"period":"2017-08-01","rent":953.225534},{"period":"2017-09-01","rent":958.469713},{"period":"2017-10-01","rent":952.161273},{"period":"2017-11-01","rent":937.98562},{"period":"2017-12-01","rent":924.570927},{"period":"2018-01-01","rent":939.108056},{"period":"2018-02-01","rent":943.212382},{"period":"2018-03-01","rent":961.355424},{"period":"2018-04-01","rent":973.901876},{"period":"2018-05-01","rent":990.145981},{"period":"2018-06-01","rent":993.142407},{"period":"2018-07-01","rent":988.547503},{"period":"2018-08-01","rent":981.039069},{"period":"2018-09-01","rent":984.80775},{"period":"2018-10-01","rent":999.389902},{"period":"2018-11-01","rent":1006.132555},{"period":"2018-12-01","rent":1035.124775},{"period":"2019-01-01","rent":1038.306183},{"period":"2019-02-01","rent":1048.890371},{"period":"2019-03-01","rent":1049.326877},{"period":"2019-04-01","rent":1050.055898},{"period":"2019-05-01","rent":1044.598895},{"period":"2019-06-01","rent":1048.592191},{"period":"2019-07-01","rent":1061.274637},{"period":"2019-08-01","rent":1073.766103},{"period":"2019-09-01","rent":1075.326587},{"period":"2019-10-01","rent":1069.178133},{"period":"2019-11-01","rent":1075.451261},{"period":"2019-12-01","rent":1062.729151},{"period":"2020-01-01","rent":1060.296504},{"period":"2020-02-01","rent":1054.227795},{"period":"2020-03-01","rent":1085.317595},{"period":"2020-04-01","rent":1092.125568},{"period":"2020-05-01","rent":1088.603627},{"period":"2020-06-01","rent":1082.049055},{"period":"2020-07-01","rent":1083.644407},{"period":"2020-08-01","rent":1085.608854},{"period":"2020-09-01","rent":1083.174823},{"period":"2020-10-01","rent":1074.888839},{"period":"2020-11-01","rent":1050.021792},{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":1058.742925},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":1059.988511},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1085.269578},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1086.504196},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1106.221756},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1121.202933},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1133.559062},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1141.53394},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1154.69982},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1176.265181},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1202.605553},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1221.177065},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1226.783911},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1236.733332},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1243.47649},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1261.374701},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1250.522748},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1252.623647},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1253.364595},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1270.194591},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1278.570938},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1274.847073},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1274.811815},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1294.057677},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1309.354466},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1314.848892},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1299.339878},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1297.870249},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1316.257268},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1329.608121},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1324.08735},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1302.414094},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1290.937984},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1313.304003},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1319.251799},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1318.289403},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1314.811229},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1321.744835},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1330.370691},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1317.030758},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1310.463038},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1312.011328},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1333.54815},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1359.604982},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1376.642735},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1377.351356},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1368.211384},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1365.344759},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1369.102277},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1376.748652},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1383.0793},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1395.279292},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1408.366988},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1408.273641},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1406.945296},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1404.39946},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1405.986745},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1405.599825},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1420.305945},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1430.017607},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1437.440783},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1438.338519},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1443.849864},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1452.344346},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1453.662754},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1461.951046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