North Carolina Housing Market: Home Prices, Rent and Affordability
The typical North Carolina home is worth $334,773, flat over the past year and up 23.2% over five years, 9.2% below the national $368,697 (Zillow, latest release). That ranks #27 of 50 on price. A 20%-down mortgage runs $1,722 a month and takes about $87,803 of income; the median North Carolina household earns $66,880, $20,923 short.
In Charlotte, the state's largest metro, typical rent is $1,749 a month against a $1,978 principal-and-interest payment on the typical home, so renting is $229 a month cheaper before taxes, insurance and maintenance. The market is cold: 29.1% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 59 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 9.3% from a year ago.
All figures are Zillow Research's published numbers for August; median household income is from the Census Bureau. How the data works → · Home prices in all 50 states →
North Carolina Housing by the Numbers
How much does a house cost in North Carolina? The typical home is worth $334,773, the median sale price is $362,833 and the median list price $403,300. The six figures below describe the market this month, each with the national comparison.
How Have North Carolina Home Prices Changed?
The typical North Carolina home value every month since 2000, with the national typical home as a dashed line. Values held flat over the past year, are up 23.2% over five years, up 92.7% over ten, and up 156% since January 2000.
Is It Cheaper to Rent or Buy in North Carolina?
Two direct answers from the Zillow data. Rent versus buy sets typical asking rent in Charlotte, the state's largest metro, against the mortgage payment on the typical home there, since Zillow publishes rents by metro rather than by state. The affordability gap is the income needed to buy the typical North Carolina home minus what the median household actually earns.
Rent vs. buy · Charlotte, NC
The payment excludes property tax (0.73% of value in North Carolina), insurance and maintenance, all of which push the cost of owning higher; renting builds no equity. If values kept rising at the past five years' pace (23.2%), equity would narrow that gap over a long stay.
Affordability gap · #27 of 50
A $1,722 monthly payment takes 30.9% of the median North Carolina household's income before property tax and insurance; lenders generally cap total housing costs near 28–31%. Full budget for your household →
Is North Carolina a Buyer's or a Seller's Market?
Market temperature is our label from three Zillow signals compared with the national market: the share of listings with a price cut, days from listing to pending (days on market), and whether homes for sale are up from a year ago. North Carolina is cold: it buyers hold the leverage: more price cuts, slower sales and rising inventory compared with the national market.
Median sale price $362,833 against a median list price of $403,300, so the typical home closes 10.0% below asking.
Where the North Carolina market is heading
Compared with a year ago, all three signals point looser, in buyers' favor: the share of listings with a price cut is up 0.2 points from a year ago to 29.1%, homes take 7 days longer to go pending than a year ago (59 now), and the number of homes for sale is up 9.3%. The typical home value held flat over the same period and is 1.2% below its February 2025 peak of $338,707. We publish no forecasts: these are Zillow's current-month readings, not a prediction of where North Carolina home prices go next.
Home Values and Rents in North Carolina Cities
Zillow publishes a city-level home value or rent for 20 of the North Carolina cities we track. The most expensive is Chapel Hill ($631,034) and the cheapest Rocky Mount ($188,603). Click a city for its full profile.
| City | Population | Home value | 1 yr | 5 yr | Rent | Rent 1 yr | Value ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 911,307 | $392,573 | -1.1% | ||||
| Raleigh | 482,425 | $428,671 | -1.7% | ||||
| Greensboro | 302,307 | $263,264 | 0.0% | ||||
| Durham | 295,845 | $389,634 | -3.4% | ||||
| Winston-Salem | 252,970 | $263,057 | +0.2% | ||||
| Fayetteville | 209,751 | $224,044 | +0.3% | ||||
| Cary | 178,883 | $619,636 | -1.4% | ||||
| Wilmington | 122,695 | $419,038 | -0.1% | ||||
| High Point | 116,205 | $250,100 | +0.1% | ||||
| Concord | 110,097 | $380,870 | -0.5% | ||||
| Asheville | 95,053 | $448,688 | -5.0% | ||||
| Greenville | 90,059 | $237,040 | +1.0% | ||||
| Gastonia | 83,949 | $275,364 | -0.4% | ||||
| Jacksonville | 72,867 | $263,173 | +3.5% | ||||
| Apex | 72,213 | $592,991 | -1.7% | ||||
| Huntersville | 62,458 | $546,644 | +0.5% | ||||
| Chapel Hill | 59,889 | $631,034 | -0.7% | ||||
| Burlington | 58,599 | $254,509 | +1.2% | ||||
| Kannapolis | 56,470 | $279,713 | +0.3% | ||||
| Rocky Mount | 54,175 | $188,603 | +0.1% |
Home value and rent are Zillow's city-level indexes; population and median household income are Census ACS. Cities without a Zillow index are omitted. All North Carolina cities ranked →
How North Carolina Compares With Nearby States
The South states closest to North Carolina on price. Each card links to that state's housing page; the compare link puts the two states side by side on every category.
More on North Carolina
North Carolina dashboard
→Overall rank and grade, every category score, taxes, utilities, safety, schools and all tracked cities.
What you'd keep in North Carolina
→Take-home after housing, taxes, childcare, utilities and groceries for your household and income.
Who is moving to North Carolina
→IRS migration data: where new residents come from, where leavers go, and what both groups earn.
North Carolina Housing Market FAQ
What is the average house price in North Carolina?
$334,773 is the typical North Carolina home value according to the latest Zillow Research release of the Zillow Home Value Index, which tracks homes in the middle third of the market. The median sale price was $362,833 and the median list price $403,300. That makes North Carolina the #27 most expensive state; the national typical home is worth $368,697.
Are home prices dropping in North Carolina?
No. The typical North Carolina home value held flat over the past year, though it remains 1.2% below its February 2025 peak of $338,707. Over five years it is up 23.2% and over ten years up 92.7%. Nationally, values rose 1.2% over the year.
How have North Carolina home prices changed over the past 1, 5 and 10 years?
0.0% over one year, +23.2% over five years and +92.7% over ten years for the typical North Carolina home value, per the latest Zillow Research release; the national figures are +1.2%, +20.3% and +77.9%. Since January 2000 the typical North Carolina home is up 156%. The monthly chart above shows the full series against the national line.
Will the North Carolina housing market crash?
We publish no forecasts, so this page cannot answer that; it can show the current readings and the historical worst case. Right now the typical North Carolina home value is 1.2% below its February 2025 peak of $338,707 after it held flat over the past year; 29.1% of listings have cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 59 days (national 53), and inventory is up 9.3% from a year ago, per Zillow Research. The largest decline in Zillow's monthly series for North Carolina was 14.1% from April 2008 to February 2012, and values took 56 months to regain that peak.
Is it a good time to buy a house in North Carolina?
The North Carolina market is cold right now, which means it buyers hold the leverage: more price cuts, slower sales and rising inventory compared with the national market. 29.1% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 59 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 9.3% from a year ago. Affordability is the constraint: buying the typical home takes $87,803 of income, $20,923 more than the median household earns. Whether the timing is right also depends on mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay.
Is North Carolina a buyer's or seller's market?
North Carolina leans toward buyers. More listings are cutting prices than the national average (29.1% vs. 26.4%), homes take 59 days to go pending (national 53), and the number of homes for sale is up 9.3% from a year ago at 54K listings. Three of those three signals point toward buyers.
What is the average rent in North Carolina?
In Charlotte, North Carolina's largest metro, the typical asking rent is $1,749 a month, up 1.0% over the past year and up 17.8% over five years, per the Zillow Observed Rent Index. The national typical rent is $1,948. Among North Carolina cities we track, rents range from $1,272 to $1,981 a month.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in North Carolina?
Renting is cheaper month to month in Charlotte, North Carolina's largest metro. Typical rent is $1,749 and the principal-and-interest payment on the typical home with 20% down is $1,978, a difference of $229 a month in favor of renting. The payment excludes property tax (0.73% of value in North Carolina), insurance and maintenance, and renting builds no equity, so the full answer depends on how long you stay.
How much income do you need to buy a house in North Carolina?
About $87,803 a year, using Zillow's assumptions of 20% down at current mortgage rates and a payment of no more than 30% of income. The median North Carolina household earns $66,880, so the typical household is $20,923 short. That is the #27 smallest affordability gap of the 50 states. The monthly payment of $1,722 equals 30.9% of the median household's income.
Where are homes cheapest and most expensive in North Carolina?
Among the North Carolina cities we track with Zillow data, the most expensive typical home is in Chapel Hill ($631,034) and the cheapest in Rocky Mount ($188,603). Also at the top: Cary ($619,636), Apex ($592,991), and Huntersville ($546,644). The city table above lists every tracked North Carolina city with its value, one-year change and rent.
How does North Carolina compare with nearby states?
In the South, the closest comparisons on price are Tennessee ($334,108, up 0.7% in a year), Georgia ($330,817, down 0.5% in a year), and South Carolina ($306,323, up 1.0% in a year). North Carolina's typical home is $334,773, flat. On affordability, North Carolina ranks #27 of 50 versus Tennessee at #31, Georgia at #24, and South Carolina at #25.
How current is the North Carolina housing data?
Every figure on this page comes from Zillow Research, which publishes state, metro and city data free each month for the prior month; the latest month shown is August. Median household income is from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. We rebuild the page from the newest Zillow files as they are released.
Home values, rents, mortgage payments, income needed, inventory, price cuts, days to pending and sale and list prices are published by Zillow Research and shown as released, with attribution. Median household income and city populations are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Home prices and housing markets in all 50 states →