Cary’s current Zillow ZHVI is $631,158, a typical city home value, while ZORI is $1,775 monthly, a typical observed market rent. ZHVI changed -2.01% and ZORI 0.30% year over year; these are observations, not a forecast. Gross yield is 3.38% before every operating cost. ZHVI is 4.68x median household income, while annual ZORI is 15.79% of that income, framing citywide affordability but not a buyer’s financing or tenant’s budget.
City housing stock is 73.21% single-family and 11.10% large multifamily; 33.38% of occupied units are renter-occupied, and citywide vacancy is 5.54%. These describe overall stock and occupancy, not investable listings or lease-up speed. ACS reports a $580,200 median value for surveyed owner-occupied housing and $1,738 median gross rent for occupied rentals, including contract rent and selected utilities. ACS differs in concept and period from Zillow’s typical value and observed market rent, so the measures should not be averaged or treated as quotes for the same property.
Among city renters, 38.20% are cost burdened. Of vacant city housing, 64.24% is classified as for rent; other vacancy reasons include sale and seasonal use, and none identifies currently available investment inventory. Population is 7.84% higher across the overlapping ACS vintages, a comparison that should not be annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $134,905, while the poverty rate is 5.66% and unemployment is 3.45%. These are descriptive demand constraints and city depth indicators, not causal evidence about achievable rent, turnover or address-level performance.
Cary intersects multiple counties, so their records must remain separate. Chatham County’s county listing record shows a median 59 days on market. Durham County’s county record shows 52, while Wake County’s county record shows 48. These county measures do not measure Cary alone. The Raleigh metro reports 2.15% job growth and 3 months of housing supply, providing broader metro demand and sale-market context without city outcomes. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, a national benchmark rather than a Cary borrowing quote.
Key limitations are citywide typicals, survey measures and periods, overlapping population vintages, and wider geographies with different denominators. Verify the property’s county jurisdiction, tax bill, insurance terms and climate exposure, HOA restrictions, condition, repair budget and utility responsibility. Obtain address-level sale and rent comparables, inspect competing rentals, test vacancy and turnover, and price financing from a lender. Recalculate cash flow after management, maintenance, reserves, taxes, insurance, HOA charges and transaction costs; gross yield deducts none.