Audubon County

Audubon County sits at a median home price of $161,635 with 6.9% year-over-year appreciation, which is the most immediately striking number in this dataset. The affordability index of 95 out of 100 confirms that entry prices remain accessible relative to incomes, which is what makes that appreciation rate meaningful rather than alarming. The overall score of 80 places Audubon in the 99th national percentile across 1,000 counties and third in Iowa out of 99, driven almost entirely by a 92 appreciation score and a 95 affordability score. The cash flow score, however, is zero, and the cap rate fields return zero as well. The data does not support a cash-flow underwrite here, and an investor who needs day-one income from rents covering PITIA should treat that honestly rather than hoping the numbers close.

That zero cash-flow score is the single most important filter for who belongs in this market. Appreciation buyers, particularly those who can tolerate neutral or slightly negative carry in exchange for equity accumulation, are the natural fit at $161,635 entry with 6.9% trailing appreciation. At a $32,327 down payment on a 20% conventional structure and a 6.85% interest rate environment, the mortgage load is not trivial relative to rural Iowa rents. The appreciation score of 92 suggests the model sees continued price momentum, but an investor who needs the property to pencil on cash flow from month one will not find that here. Value-add operators who can force appreciation through renovation in an already-appreciating market could extract equity, but again, exit or refinance plays, not income, are the thesis.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Audubon County, so the drivers behind that 6.9% appreciation cannot be attributed to a specific anchor employer or institutional demand source from this dataset. What the population figure of 5,651 does signal is that this is a genuinely small rural county, which means rental demand is thin by definition and tenant pool depth is limited. An investor buying a single property here is not buying into a liquid rental market; they are buying a specific asset in a specific small town, and vacancy in that context is binary in a way it is not in a market of 200,000 people.

Tax and insurance carry deserves real attention. The combined monthly tax and insurance estimate is $252, representing $2,473 in annual property tax at a 1.53% state-average effective rate and $550 in annual insurance. The 1.53% rate carries a high flag, and at that level it is high enough to deserve its own line on your underwrite. On a $161,635 asset, $2,473 in annual taxes is 1.53 cents on every dollar of value, every year, before a single repair or vacancy day. Iowa's effective property tax rates have historically run above the national average, and the note attached to this data correctly cautions that actual county and township rates may differ from the state-average estimate used here. Pull the actual Audubon County assessor data before closing. The insurance rate at 0.34% and $550 annually is not alarming, but Iowa's exposure to hail, wind, and tornado events means coverage terms matter as much as the premium line.

The core risk in Audubon County is concentration and liquidity. A population of 5,651 means the entire county has fewer residents than many apartment complexes in Des Moines. If a tenant leaves, the replacement pool is narrow. If the investor needs to exit, the buyer pool is equally narrow, and days on market in rural Iowa can stretch well beyond what a metro investor would expect. There is no data here to quantify vacancy rates, so the risk is structural rather than statistical: small-population rural counties absorb shocks poorly because there is no demand buffer.

Compared to the five neighboring counties provided, Audubon's overall score of 80 leads the group, with Humboldt, Louisa, and Harrison all scoring 78 and Hardin and Fremont at 77. Audubon's median price of $161,635 sits in the middle of the neighbor range, below Harrison County at $212,859 and Louisa County at $169,860, but above Hardin County at $139,169. An investor choosing between these markets should recognize that Audubon's edge is its appreciation score relative to similarly priced neighbors, not cash flow. Hardin County at $139,169 median is the cheapest entry point in the group and may suit a cash-flow-focused buyer better if its rent-to-price ratio is stronger, though that data is not provided here. Harrison County at $212,859 commands a 32% price premium over Audubon with the same overall score of 78, which is a harder case to make unless Harrison's specific rental economics justify it. Audubon makes sense over its neighbors when the investor's primary objective is price appreciation in an affordable-entry Iowa rural market and they can absorb the carry costs and illiquidity that come with a county of fewer than 6,000 people.