What Is the Raleigh Durham Housing Market Doing Right Now?

It's cooling in a controlled, healthy way, not crashing. Prices are down slightly year over year, homes are taking longer to sell, and inventory has grown, which gives buyers more breathing room than they've had in years. It still favors sellers overall, but by a much thinner margin than 2021 or 2022. Here's the full breakdown, and more importantly, what it means for you.

Prices

Raleigh's median sale price over the last three months sits around $422,000, down about 6 percent from the same period last year. The median price per square foot is down a similar amount. Durham is telling a slightly gentler story, with a median near $425,000, down somewhere between 2 and 7 percent depending on which source you're looking at, since different platforms calculate this differently. Both cities have essentially been hovering in the $400,000 to $425,000 range for a while now, which tells you the market has found something closer to a plateau after the run up of the last few years.

Inventory and Days on Market

This is the number that tells the real story right now. Homes in Raleigh are averaging 39 days on market, up from 35 a year ago. Some neighborhood level data shows even longer timelines, into the 50 and 60 day range in certain price bands. Durham is moving a bit faster, closer to 31 days.

Months of supply across the Raleigh area is sitting around 3 months. That's technically still a seller's market by the traditional 4 to 6 month definition of balanced, but it's grown noticeably from the 1 to 2 month supply we saw at the peak of the frenzy years. Translation: sellers still have an edge, but buyers finally have room to breathe, compare, and negotiate.

Mortgage Rates

The 30 year fixed rate has been sitting in the mid to high 6 percent range this month, with weekly surveys putting it between roughly 6.76 and 6.85 percent depending on the exact week and source. Rates have ticked up slightly over the past several weeks as bond yields moved, and most forecasts don't expect a dramatic drop before the end of the year. If you're waiting for rates in the 5s to buy, you may be waiting a while. The more useful move for most buyers is to buy based on what the payment feels like today, with the plan to refinance later if rates do improve.

What Does This Actually Mean If You're Buying?

You have more leverage than buyers had in 2022, more inventory to choose from, and more room to negotiate on price and terms, especially on homes that have already been sitting for a few weeks. The exception is entry level inventory under $350,000 in strong school districts, which is still competitive and sometimes still pulling multiple offers.

If you're ready to start your search or want to understand what your budget gets you in today's market, explore our buyer resources and home search tools — and reach out when you want a real plan, not just a listing alert.

What Does This Actually Mean If You're Selling?

Pricing accuracy matters more than it has in years. The days of listing high and letting the market sort it out are over for now. Homes priced correctly from day one are still moving in a reasonable window. Homes that get overpriced are the ones sitting for 60, 70, 90 days and eventually chasing the market down with price cuts that hurt buyer confidence.

Want to know what your home is actually worth in this market? Get a free home valuation or schedule a seller consultation so we can build a pricing and presentation strategy that gets your home sold.

Bottom Line

The Triangle market is stabilizing, not collapsing. Prices are softening slightly, inventory is up, and buyers have real negotiating power again, but sellers who price accurately are still closing deals in a reasonable timeframe. Whether you're buying or selling, the numbers reward people who move with a clear strategy instead of reacting to headlines.

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