Cary’s Zillow ZHVI typical home value is $631,158, while Zillow ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,775 monthly. Their implied gross yield is 3.38% before every operating cost, vacancy, capital expense and financing. The ZHVI equals 4.68x ACS median household income, and annualized ZORI equals 15.79% of that income. Those citywide ratios frame affordability, but do not establish a property’s achievable rent or net return.
The citywide housing stock has 33.38% of occupied units renter-occupied and an overall housing-unit vacancy rate of 5.54%. ACS reports a $580,200 median home value and $1,738 median gross rent for surveyed occupied housing; gross rent includes contract rent plus selected utilities. These ACS measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical market value and observed rent, so they should not be averaged or substituted.
Among city renters, 38.20% spend at least 30% of income on gross rent. Single-family structures are 73.21% of city housing units and large multifamily structures are 11.10%. Of vacant units, 64.24% are classified as for rent, a survey reason rather than available investment inventory. ACS population is 179,306, up 7.84% between overlapping five-year vintages; the change is not annualized, is not a five-year event count and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $134,905, while poverty is 5.66% and unemployment is 3.45%. These citywide facts describe demand constraints and stock, not leasing speed for a specific unit.
In Chatham County, county listing context shows 18.76% of active listings with price reductions. In Durham County, county listing context reports 25.28%. In Wake County, county listing context reports 22.98%. None of these county records represents Cary as a whole. The broader Raleigh metro has 2.15% job growth and 3 months of supply, offering labor-demand and liquidity context rather than city measures. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.66%, a financing benchmark rather than a Cary borrowing quote.
Underwriting is limited by citywide medians, survey sampling, mismatched source periods and broader geographies that do not resolve parcel economics. First identify the parcel’s county, then verify purchase terms, unit-level rent and lease comparables, current occupancy, taxes, insurance and hazard exposure. Inspect condition, legal use, utility responsibility and likely maintenance or capital work; budget management, turnover and vacancy costs; obtain an actual financing quote. Recalculate cash flow and returns from those property-specific inputs rather than the headline gross yield.