Durham’s Zillow ZHVI is $400,564 and ZORI is $1,700 a month. Annualizing that rent against the value gives a 5.1% gross yield, before vacancy, management, maintenance, taxes, insurance, utilities, financing and capital work. The ZHVI is 4.9x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI equals 25.0% of that income. These citywide benchmarks frame entry price and top-line rent, not the cash flow of a specific home.
The city has 136,837 housing units; 47.7% of occupied units are renter-occupied, and 7.5% of all units are vacant. ACS reports a $392,800 median home value for surveyed occupied owner housing and $1,508 median gross rent, which includes contract rent plus selected utilities. Those ACS measures differ in definition, sample and period from Zillow’s typical home value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or treated as matched property economics.
Direct city depth is mixed: 48.5% of renting households are rent-burdened, while 61.4% of housing units are single-family and 13.4% are in large multifamily structures. Of vacant units, 41.6% are listed for rent, a survey reason rather than a count of investable listings. The ACS population is 291,467, up 8.1% between overlapping vintages; that change is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $81,619, with poverty at 11.7% and unemployment at 3.8%. These citywide facts cannot establish unit-level demand, tenant quality or leasing speed.
County carrying-cost context varies across the city footprint: Durham County’s reported property-tax rate is 0.79%; Orange County’s is 0.91%; Wake County’s is 0.71%. In the broader Durham metro, jobs fell 0.7% over the reported trailing period and for-sale supply was 3 months, signals that use metro—not city—denominators. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58%, a financing benchmark rather than a Durham borrowing quote.
The underwriting gap is property-specific expenses and achievable rent. Verify the parcel’s county and current tax bill, insurance terms and hazard exclusions, HOA obligations, owner-paid utilities, maintenance history, near-term capital needs and any legal or permitting issues. Obtain same-type rent comparables, current concessions, application traffic and lease-renewal evidence; then model vacancy, management and reserves. Confirm title, inspection findings and lender pricing before judging coverage or cash flow. City vacancy, burden and stock shares are context only, and county, metro and national indicators should remain separate from the asset model.