Ouachita Parish

Ouachita Parish sits at a 7.96% rent-to-price ratio and a 5.17% cap rate on a $181,215 median home price, which places it clearly toward the cash-flow end of the spectrum rather than the appreciation end. Year-over-year price growth came in at 2.63%, which is real but modest, so you are not buying into a market that is pricing in aggressive future appreciation. The affordability index of 91 and a cash-flow score of 80 against an appreciation score of 76 confirm the lean: this is a market where the yield story is the primary reason to be here, not a bet on equity run-up. The raw cap rate of 5.17% is workable at the property level, though the leveraged picture, at 6.85% financing, flips to negative, with the model projecting a monthly cash flow of -$169 and a cash-on-cash return of -4.87% on a 20% down payment. That gap is not unusual at current rates, but it is a real number that investors using leverage need to account for, not paper over.

That negative cash-on-cash figure is the most important number for a leveraged buyer to sit with. At $950 per month in mortgage service and $421 in estimated expenses against $1,202 in median rent, there is a roughly $169 monthly shortfall before vacancy or capex, which over a year is about $2,000 coming out of pocket. The play for a cash-flow buyer here is either all-cash or near-all-cash deployment, where the 5.17% cap rate becomes a real yield, or targeting properties meaningfully below the $181,215 median where the math closes. A value-add operator who can buy at a 15-20% discount to median, push rents, and then refi or hold has a credible path. A pure appreciation buyer with no interest in yield has better options elsewhere, since 2.63% price growth does not clear any hurdle rate on its own.

The $183 per month in combined property tax and insurance deserves attention in both directions. Louisiana's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.55% is low, flagged as such in the data, and that is a genuine tailwind relative to markets where tax alone can run 1.5-2% of value. On a $181,215 asset, annual property tax comes in around $997. That said, the insurance side, at $1,196 annually or roughly $100 per month, is not negligible, and Louisiana's coastal and storm exposure means that figure warrants independent verification at the property level. The published rate is a state-average estimate and county rates will differ, so build in a buffer when underwriting specific assets. Still, at $183 combined monthly, the tax-and-insurance load is lighter than many comparable cash-flow markets in the Midwest or Southeast, and that does support the carry economics at the property level.

The stability score of 50 is the number that should give a careful investor pause. It is the weakest dimension of the scorecard, sitting at the midpoint, and it suggests that Ouachita Parish carries more cyclical or demographic risk than its cash-flow and affordability scores alone would imply. With a population of 159,585, this is a mid-size Louisiana market, large enough to have a diversified tenant base but not so large that any single demand shock gets absorbed easily. Investors should stress-test vacancy assumptions carefully and avoid heavy concentration in any single submarket or property type where the tenant pool may be thin.

Compared to the neighbors in the data, Ouachita Parish looks like the cleanest overall bet at its price point. It ranks second in Louisiana out of 64 parishes and sits at the 91st national percentile out of 1,000 counties, which is a meaningful signal. Calcasieu Parish, the closest comparable by price at $193,360, carries a rent-to-price ratio of only 6.59% against Ouachita's 7.96%, a material difference in yield profile, and scores 70 overall versus 74. Iberia Parish has the most aggressive rent-to-price ratio in the group at 10.63% on a $134,124 median, which could attract a cash-flow buyer chasing raw yield, but its overall score of 69 suggests it carries risk that the raw ratio does not capture. Caldwell Parish at $127,430 median is the cheapest entry point and scores 73, but lower absolute price does not automatically mean better returns without rent data to anchor the yield. Sabine Parish at $186,542 scores 70. Ouachita Parish's combination of a 7.96% rent-to-price ratio, 5.17% cap rate, low property tax burden, and second-place state ranking makes it the preferred choice in this group for an investor who wants yield with the most defensible overall market profile. If absolute lowest entry price is the mandate and the investor can do the local diligence, Caldwell or Iberia may warrant a closer look, but Ouachita Parish is the one that clears the most boxes at once.