Union County

Union County comes in at a median home price of $125,218, down about 1.1% year-over-year, with an affordability index of 100, the highest possible score in this dataset. That price point is the defining characteristic of this market. The cash flow score is listed at zero, which reflects missing rent and cap rate data in the underlying model rather than confirmed negative cash flow, so the cash-flow picture requires your own rent comp work before underwriting. What the data does confirm is that appreciation is weak, scoring 45 out of 100, and stability sits at 50. This is not a market where you are buying growth. At $125,218, the entry price is low enough that even modest rents could produce acceptable yields, but the investor has to do that math independently given the data gaps here.

The affordability score of 100 and a purchase price well below $130,000 make Union County most relevant to two buyer types: the cash-flow buyer who can acquire at low basis and the value-add operator who can buy distressed assets cheaply, renovate, and refinance or sell. An appreciation buyer has little justification here given the negative year-over-year price movement and a stability score of 50. The value-add angle is probably the stronger pitch. When median prices are this low, the spread between distressed and retail is often narrow in absolute dollar terms but wide in percentage terms, and forced appreciation through renovation can be meaningful relative to acquisition cost. A cash-flow buyer would need to verify that local rents support a usable gross yield after debt service at 6.85%, which is the rate reflected in the dataset. At $125,218 with 20% down, the financed balance is roughly $100,174. Monthly principal and interest at 6.85% over 30 years runs approximately $658. Whether that leaves cash flow depends entirely on rents you need to pull from the local market yourself.

Union County is in southern Arkansas with a population of 38,815. No economic anchor data was provided for this county, so employment base and major employer concentration cannot be assessed from this dataset. That absence is itself a caution flag worth noting during diligence. Small rural counties without identifiable anchor employers carry real demand risk, particularly for stabilized buy-and-hold strategies. Tenant quality and vacancy rates in markets this size can swing meaningfully based on a single employer's decisions, and without anchor data here, that exposure is unquantified.

On the carry-cost side, the tax and insurance picture is a genuine tailwind. The state-average effective property tax rate is 0.62%, flagged as low, and insurance runs 0.48% annually. Combined, that produces $115 per month in tax and insurance on a $125,218 asset. That is materially lower than what investors face in higher-tax states, and it improves the cash-flow case at the margin. To put a number on it: annual property tax of $776 and insurance of $601 total $1,377 per year, or about $115 monthly. That is real money when you are underwriting thin margins at this price point. The caveat from the data source applies here: this is a state-average effective rate sourced from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates may differ, so pull the specific assessor figures before closing.

The primary risks in Union County are demand concentration and demographic trajectory. A population of 38,815 in a rural southern Arkansas county means the renter pool is limited in absolute size. Negative home price movement of 1.1% year-over-year in a low-price market suggests either softening demand, out-migration, or both. A stability score of 50 is not alarming on its own, but paired with declining prices and no visible economic anchor data, it warrants scrutiny. Regulatory risk is not flagged by the dataset and cannot be assessed here.

Compared to its neighbors, Union County is by far the cheapest entry point. Cleburne County sits at $256,308, Faulkner at $250,392, Pulaski at $203,296, Sebastian at $198,950, and Polk at $184,614. All of them carry overall scores within one or two points of Union's 63, which means you are not paying a premium for meaningfully better fundamentals in those markets. However, Pulaski and Sebastian counties both have rent data available: Pulaski shows a rent-to-price ratio of 6.78% and Sebastian 6.25%, both at higher absolute price points. Faulkner comes in at 6.36% with median rent of $1,327. Those figures give investors in those counties a clearer underwriting baseline. Choose Union over a neighbor if your strategy is lowest-possible-basis acquisition, value-add renovation, or if your rent comp work confirms yields that pencil at this price. Choose Pulaski or Sebastian if you want a larger rental market with verified rent data and only marginally higher acquisition costs.