Apex’s current Zillow ZHVI typical home value is $603,237 and its ZORI typical observed market rent is $2,017 a month. Their relationship implies a 4.01% gross yield before every operating cost, not a net return. The home value is 4.19x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI is 16.79% of that income. Those ratios frame entry affordability and revenue capacity, but do not establish financing terms, expenses or achievable rent for one home.
Citywide occupied housing was predominantly owner occupied, with renters representing 23.46%. ACS surveyed occupied housing reports a $1,902 median gross rent, which includes contract rent and selected utilities, and a $576,100 owner-reported median home value. Those ACS measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical market rent and typical home value, so they should not be averaged or treated as transaction-level evidence.
Direct city depth is mixed. Rent burden reached 44.17% of renter households, while 83.51% of housing units were single-family and 7.37% were in large multifamily buildings. Overall vacancy was 4.77%; for-rent units made up 63.40% of vacant units. Population was 70,630, up 37.49% between overlapping ACS vintages; that is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income was $144,135; unemployment was 3.81%. These citywide survey facts describe demand constraints and stock, but cannot show lease-up speed, available investment inventory or property condition.
Wider indicators must stay in scope. The county record for Chatham County shows a median market time of 59 days and 18.76% of listings price reduced. The separate county record for Wake County shows 48 days and 22.98% of listings price reduced; neither county denominator measures Apex. The broader Raleigh metro posted 2.15% year-over-year job growth and 3 months of supply, useful for employment and market-balance context but not city performance. The national Freddie Mac rate for a 30-year mortgage was 6.58%, a financing condition rather than a local demand measure.
The main underwriting gap is the property itself: acquisition price, taxes, insurance, association charges, maintenance, management, utilities, financing and downtime can materially change the headline yield. Next checks should verify an address’s county and tax parcel, insurability and hazard terms, legal rental status, physical condition, comparable signed leases, concessions, tenant turnover and realistic vacancy. A property-level cash-flow model should keep Zillow market measures separate from ACS survey measures and from county, metro and national context.