Raleigh’s current Zillow ZHVI typical city home value is $436,056, down 2.1% year over year; Zillow ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,579 monthly, up 0.2%. Together they imply a 4.3% gross yield before maintenance, management, taxes, insurance, vacancy, capital spending, and financing. ZHVI is 5.1x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI equals 22.2% of that income. These city ratios frame affordability and revenue capacity, not a household qualification test or a forecast of net returns.
Citywide ACS housing context shows a 9.5% vacancy rate and 49.3% renter share, indicating meaningful rental tenure but not how quickly a specific unit would lease. ACS surveyed occupied housing reports a $415,800 median home value and $1,572 median gross rent, with gross rent including contract rent plus selected utilities. Those ACS measures cover different housing concepts and periods from Zillow’s typical home value and observed market rent; averaging, comparing growth across, or substituting them would misstate affordability and yield.
Direct city survey depth shows 52.1% of renter households are cost-burdened, while 58.1% of all units are single-family and 17.6% are in large multifamily buildings. Among vacant city units, 45.9% were classified for rent; that vacancy-reason share is survey context, not available investment inventory or proof of fast leasing. Population was 3.6% higher across overlapping ACS five-year vintages, subject to possible boundary changes, and is not an annual rate. Median household income is $85,395, with 11.9% poverty and 4.4% unemployment. These city descriptors flag affordability and labor constraints without establishing causes, future demand, or asset-level performance.
For the Durham County portion, county Realtor context shows 25.3% of active listings price-reduced; the figure does not measure Raleigh alone. For the Wake County portion, county Realtor context shows 23.0%, also not a city measure. The broader Raleigh metro posted 2.2% job growth while 37.7% of listings had price drops, combining supportive labor context with evidence of seller adjustment outside city boundaries. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.66%, a financing constraint rather than a Raleigh market statistic.
The central underwriting limitation is that city, county, metro, and national aggregates cannot establish a specific property’s achievable rent, condition, expenses, financing, or resale liquidity. Before acting, confirm the address and county, title and zoning, current taxes and assessments, insurance and hazard terms, HOA restrictions, utility responsibility, inspection findings, deferred maintenance, and near-term capital work. Validate comparable signed leases, concessions, likely downtime, management costs, and a property-specific financing quote, then stress-test cash flow rather than treating gross yield as net income.