Richmond, KY
Richmond merits investigation by income-focused buyers who accept moderate yield and can underwrite flood exposure property by property.
Why this market scores where it does
Written from the figures on this page and then checked against them: every number below had to appear in the source record or recompute from two that did, or the text was rewritten.
Richmond merits investigation by income-focused buyers who accept moderate yield and can underwrite flood exposure property by property. Buyers seeking strong near-term resale liquidity or limited new competition should be cautious. The median home value is $267,445, median asking rent is $1,153, and gross yield is 5.17%.
Demand signals are constructive but not uniformly strong. Jobs increased 1.09%, asking rents rose 3.31%, and tax filings show net migration of 732 households. Incoming movers also had average income $1,256 above outgoing movers, supporting tenant depth without proving that every neighborhood or unit type will perform similarly.
The main tension is demand versus execution risk. Inventory stands at 3.5 months, yet 29.16% of listings had price drops and median market time was 61 days, giving selective buyers room to negotiate. However, permitting is elevated relative to its longer-run benchmark, while inland flood is the dominant hazard. Favor assets with defensible rents, limited competing supply, and verified insurance and flood costs.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Do migration figures indicate that the household base is expanding?
How much negotiating leverage does the for-sale market show?
How active are investors in local purchases?
Investor Quick Takeaways
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Richmond as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Rents versus prices, indexed to 2019
Both series start at 100. The gap between the lines is the investment case, and which line is closing it tells you what kind of market this is.
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 83 | 30% | 24.90 |
| Rent trend | 50 | 25% | 12.50 |
| Affordability | 62 | 15% | 9.30 |
| Supply pressure | 35 | 15% | 5.25 |
| Climate risk | 46 | 15% | 6.90 |
| Published score | 59 | ||
LAUS job growth of 1.09% -> employment demand is expanding, but the record does not identify which industries, occupations, or tenant segments account for the gain.
Asking-rent growth of 3.31% and a $1,153 median rent -> revenue conditions are improving, although the 5.17% gross yield leaves operating costs, financing, and vacancy to determine actual returns.
Rent equal to 22.92% of median household income and a 4.43 price-to-income ratio -> typical rents appear more accessible than purchase prices, but neighborhood-level affordability is not published.
540 permits, equal to 4.29 per 1,000 residents and 11.9% above the five-year benchmark -> additional housing competition is a material underwriting concern even with only 3.5 months of current supply.
A 0.1488% annual climate loss ratio with inland flood as the dominant hazard -> buyers should verify parcel exposure, mitigation, coverage terms, and premiums because property-specific costs are not published.
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- New construction could dilute occupancy or rent leverage: the market recorded 540 permits, and permitting was 11.9% above its five-year benchmark.
- Resale execution may disappoint because homes took a median 61 days to sell and 29.16% of listings recorded price drops.
- Inland flood exposure could raise ownership costs or impair particular properties; the record provides a 0.1488% climate loss ratio but no parcel-level damage, premium, or coverage data.
Move from the metro average to local evidence
County pages carry tax, migration, listing and hazard records. City pages appear only where direct city price, rent and Census evidence pass the publication gate.
No city in this metro has passed the current city evidence gate.
Metros that behave like Richmond
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Metro | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond, KY (Target) | 59 | $267k | $1,153 | 5.2% | ▲ 1.1% |
| Williamsport, PA | 78 | $242k | $1,077 | 5.3% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Farmington, NM | 72 | $278k | $1,286 | 5.5% | ▲ 1.5% |
| St. Joseph, MO | 67 | $218k | $1,047 | 5.8% | ▲ 1.0% |
| Muskegon, MI | 85 | $259k | $1,212 | 5.6% | ▲ 1.0% |
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-07-31 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI 2025 | 2026-07-28 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-23 | 2026-07-27 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-27 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |