In ZIP 64055, June 2026 Zillow ZORI placed the current rental signal against a firmer-looking resale backdrop. ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, and its $1,430 level moved up 1.32% year over year. Meanwhile, Redfin's direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation recorded a $239,946 median sold price, up 2.1% from a year earlier. That contrast is the report's key tension: measured asking-rent growth has cooled while the for-sale benchmark rose. Neither series establishes a particular home's rent, sale price, condition, or economics. The figures occupy different evidence universes, so they frame a cross-market screen rather than a single transaction comparison.
Rent history makes the slowdown clearer. Exact same-month annualized change through the supplied endpoint was 1.32% over one year, 3.86% over three years, and 5.05% over five years. Recent direction therefore breaks from the longer path by decelerating sharply, rather than reversing into a decline. The series' 2.77% annualized monthly-return variability indicates relatively contained month-to-month movement over the observed path; that supports more confidence in the index snapshot than a highly erratic series would, while it does not make the latest level permanent. Its deepest peak-to-trough retreat reached 2.32%, another backward-looking boundary on past movement. Coverage is complete, with 68 observations and 67 consecutive monthly returns. Transparent national discovery ranks were 1,268 for momentum, 1,189 for stability, and 1,105 for the balanced measure; lower rank is higher among history-eligible ZIPs. These are measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
Different universes explain why local rent figures do not line up. The five-digit label is both Zillow's ZIP market identifier and the matched Census ZCTA; a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. The ACS 2024 five-year survey reports a $1,166 median gross rent for occupied renter homes, including selected utilities, versus the $1,430 ZORI, a 22.6% gap. That comparison is descriptive, not a conflict between like-for-like measures. As wider context only, the City of Independence asking-rent index was $1,378.45, Jackson County's asking-rent index was $1,434, and the Kansas City, MO-KS metro asking-rent index was $1,545; each has its named broader geographic scope rather than ZIP status. The city, county, and metro figures are context, not local substitutes.
The bedroom view is deliberately modelled rather than measured. Scaling ZIP ZORI by the local HUD bedroom ladder produces monthly modelled estimates of $1,151 for a studio, $1,256 for one bedroom, $1,430 for two bedrooms, $1,860 for three bedrooms, and $2,209 for four bedrooms. The local HUD FMR/SAFMR ladder itself runs from a $990 studio standard to a $1,900 four-bedroom standard. HUD standards are administrative and bedroom-specific, not asking rents. Thus the model is useful for showing the local ladder's relative shape, but it cannot identify a unit's observed bedroom rent, amenities, lease terms, included utilities, or concessions.
Affordability presents a second tension. At the 30% screen, annualizing the ZIP asking-rent index produces a required gross income of $57,200. The ACS ZCTA median household income was $62,439, putting the index-derived screen at 27.5% of that area-wide median income. This is arithmetic, not advice or an applicant qualification rule; it also does not say that renter households have the area median income. Within the ACS renter sample, 4,835 occupied renter households were counted and 2,972 reported gross-rent burdens at or above the threshold, a 61.5% share. Because gross rent includes selected utilities and survey estimates are aggregate, that burden result neither establishes affordability for a given home nor proves a particular tenant's circumstances.
Survey housing counts give the backdrop for those aggregate pressures. The matched ACS ZCTA contained 17,090 housing units, of which 15,890 were occupied and 1,200 vacant, for a 7.0% vacancy rate; renters occupied 30.4% of occupied homes. Its reported structure mix is weighted toward single-family units, with a smaller large-multifamily category, and the vacant stock is separately classified for rent, sale, or seasonal use. These ACS categories describe a five-year survey universe, not live availability. In particular, the vacancy rate and vacant-for-rent classification cannot prove that any specific unit is vacant, rent-ready, priced at ZORI, or available on a chosen date.
Resale liquidity is direct ZIP evidence but remains a for-sale observation, not a rental-comp set. In Redfin's rolling three-month ZIP observation, 144 homes sold, median marketing time was 14 days, and inventory stood at 68 homes with 1.4 months of supply. The average sale-to-list ratio was 100.5%, while 39.3% of homes sold above list. Together with the median-price increase reported above, those are resale signals that challenge the slowing ZORI growth rather than confirming it. They cannot be translated into rent transactions or property cash flows. The annualized-ZORI-to-median-sale-price figure is 7.15%, only a cross-source screening ratio; it is not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The result juxtaposes current rent level and resale price, nothing more.
Important limits remain at the property level. Neither a blended asking-rent index nor a ZCTA survey median identifies an address, and the HUD-based bedroom ladder does not supply actual lease comparables. A concrete review would need the current advertised rent and date, exact bedroom count, included and tenant-paid utilities, lease length, concessions, furnishings, unit condition, occupancy status, and whether the address lies within the matched statistical area. For a resale comparison, the relevant record would also need the actual sale date and price, list history, property type, condition, and transaction terms. Those checks test whether a specific property's facts reconcile with the ZIP-level tension between cooling asking-rent history, broad burden, and active resale evidence; they do not turn aggregate data into an outcome.
","findings":[{"body":"ZIP ZORI was $1,430 in June 2026 and rose 1.32% year over year. That pace is below the exact same-month annualized changes of 3.86% over three years and 5.05% over five years. The historical record therefore shows cooling relative to its longer trajectory, not a measured rent decline.","title":"Rent growth has decelerated without turning negative"},{"body":"Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities, while HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard. The modelled bedroom ladder scales ZORI with HUD ratios and is not observed bedroom-rent evidence.","title":"The rent benchmarks answer different questions"},{"body":"Annualizing ZIP ZORI produces a $57,200 gross-income screen at 30% of income, below the ACS ZCTA median household income of $62,439. Yet 61.5% of ACS renter households reported gross-rent burdens at or above that threshold. This is an aggregate affordability tension, not a test of any applicant or specific lease.","title":"Area-wide income screen and renter burden diverge"},{"body":"Redfin's direct ZIP resale observation showed a rising median sold price, short marketing time, limited supply, and an average sale-to-list ratio above 100%. Those are for-sale indicators only, not rental transactions. The 7.15% annualized-ZORI-to-sale-price figure is a cross-source screen, not property-level income, return, or yield evidence.","title":"Resale signals challenge the cooling rent narrative"}],"risks":["ZORI blends rental types and measures typical asking rents, while ACS gross rent reflects occupied renter homes with selected utilities. Treating the difference as a unit-level discount or premium would mix incompatible universes.","The burden percentage and income median are survey aggregates and do not reveal an applicant's earnings, household composition, utility obligations, lease terms, or ability to pay for any individual address.","The full history documents slowing yet positive index growth, but its variability, drawdown, and discovery ranks summarize past observations only. They do not identify the next asking-rent movement or property-specific outcome.","Redfin's direct ZIP record tracks resale deals rather than rental transactions. A median sold price, tight supply, or sale-to-list pattern cannot establish a property's operating costs, actual rent, or screening-ratio meaning."],"qa":[{"a":"The figures cover different populations and construction methods. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, while ACS reports a five-year survey median for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The difference is informative context, but it is not a direct rent-comp spread.","q":"Why is Zillow ZORI higher than ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom amounts are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling ZIP ZORI using the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative standard rather than asking-rent evidence, so the resulting ladder cannot substitute for observed listings, executed leases, or unit-specific rent comparables.","q":"Are the bedroom amounts measured rents in 64055?"},{"a":"It divides annualized ZIP ZORI by Redfin's ZIP median sold price, combining an asking-rent index with a resale median from another source universe. It can place current rent and sale-price levels side by side, but it omits expenses, vacancies, financing, taxes, condition, and actual property rent.","q":"How should the resale screening ratio be read?"},{"a":"They do not prove a property's current availability, condition, lease terms, rent, or tenant outcome. ACS vacancy and burden measures are aggregate five-year survey data. Address-level interpretation requires current listing information, utility treatment, unit details, occupancy status, and transaction or lease-specific records.","q":"What do vacancy and rent-burden figures prove about a specific property?"}],"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":"2020-11-01","rent":1058.371702},{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":1055.553304},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":1063.827372},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1075.695771},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1094.348404},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1101.981022},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1104.897356},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1118.282794},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1146.836532},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1153.801404},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1149.824118},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1143.801754},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1145.291534},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1164.621638},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1171.627882},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1178.933265},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1168.336283},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1172.744385},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1187.375087},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1206.595496},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1217.568994},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1236.633425},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1255.320302},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1266.093306},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1267.543292},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1272.243953},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1272.941452},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1277.334967},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1274.420972},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1282.250163},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1278.695723},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1276.7532},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1264.525613},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1263.603592},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1258.096891},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1283.047938},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1299.823017},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1311.435973},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1319.791941},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1325.01157},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1344.969018},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1343.321358},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1354.061866},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1355.050705},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1364.511142},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1358.461809},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1364.135907},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1359.238269},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1372.113963},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1369.855488},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1374.558513},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1357.532134},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1374.730178},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1386.652001},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1408.484071},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1411.80757},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1421.977301},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1436.525746},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1444.002742},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1444.784251},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1437.063792},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1442.131696},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1444.009357},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1462.9903},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1448.35265},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1445.191558},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1429.050104},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1430.462185}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":68,"firstPeriod":"2020-11-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":68,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1411.80757,"endRent":1430.462185,"change":0.013213284442156858,"cagr":0.013213284442156858},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1276.7532,"endRent":1430.462185,"change":0.12039052261627381,"cagr":0.038619507914495754},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1118.282794,"endRent":1430.462185,"change":0.2791596121079192,"cagr":0.050473129131639816}},"maxDrawdown":-0.02319919414366589,"annualizedVolatility":0.027663330674146065,"consecutiveReturnCount":67}}