ZIP 27403 is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA label. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. At the June 2026 endpoint, Zillow’s typical observed asking-rent index for the ZIP was $1,341, up 2.8% from a year earlier. This index blends asking rents across rental types rather than describing one available unit. For broader asking-rent context only, the Greensboro city scope was about $1,415, the Guilford County scope was $1,439, and the Greensboro-High Point metro scope was $1,411; none is a substitute for ZIP-level evidence.
The matched ACS 2024 five-year ZCTA survey reports median gross rent of $1,075 among occupied renter homes. Gross rent includes selected utilities, so it is a different universe from Zillow’s current asking-rent index and should not be read as a stale asking-rent quote. HUD’s FY2026 two-bedroom FMR standard is $1,280; it is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. Scaling ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,173 for a studio, $1,226 for one bedroom, $1,341 for two bedrooms, $1,718 for three bedrooms, and $1,980 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents.
The rent path is positive but less forceful than its longer-run record. Exact same-month annualized ZORI changes were 2.8% over 1 year, 2.8% over 3 years, and 7.0% over 5 years. Thus, the recent direction confirms a continuing upward path, while also breaking from the faster pace embedded in the full five-year period. The history has complete reported coverage through 67 observations and 66 consecutive monthly returns. Annualized variability in those monthly returns reaches 5.0%, which reduces confidence that one current index reading fully represents a stable near-term level. The deepest prior pullback was 3.5%, a separate measure showing that declines occurred but were limited in the observed series. National discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 1,088 for momentum, 2,828 for stability, and 2,098 for the balanced measure; lower ranks are stronger. These are transparent backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
A simple income screen creates a tight but not automatically failing aggregate comparison. Applying the 30% arithmetic screen to the current $1,341 ZORI requires annual household income of $53,640, compared with ZCTA median household income of $57,917. The asking-rent-to-income comparison is 27.8%, but it uses an area median and a blended asking-rent index, not a household budget. It is therefore arithmetic only, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. Separately, ACS reports that 46.7% of renter households, or 1,790 of 3,835, paid at least 30% of income toward gross rent. That burden share is below the broader Greensboro city and Guilford County context, but it cannot prove affordability or burden for any particular unit.
Housing composition gives necessary scale to the burden and vacancy readings. The matched ZCTA contains 8,870 housing units, and renters account for 47.7% of occupied homes. Its overall vacancy rate is 9.3%, while 249 vacant homes were classified as available for rent. Those figures describe a survey-based area-wide stock at a point in the ACS period, not real-time leasing inventory, concessions, unit condition, or landlord screening. The combination of a meaningful renter presence and reported rental vacancies supports using both asking-rent and gross-rent evidence, but it does not establish that a comparable home is currently available.
Direct ZIP resale evidence points to a different market universe and introduces the clearest tension. Redfin’s rolling three-month ZIP observation shows a median sold price of $254,942, down 18.0% year over year, with 59 homes sold and a median 34 days on market. Inventory stood at 37 homes and months of supply at 1.9. The average sale-to-list ratio was 97.2%; a minority of sales closed above list, and fewer than half of listings went off market quickly. These are for-sale and resale measures, not rental transactions or rental comparables. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price produces a 6.3% cross-source screening ratio only. It is not a cap rate, property yield, net return, or expected return.
Rents rising modestly while the reported resale median fell challenges any simple conclusion from either series alone. The rent history and current income screen suggest continuing asking-rent resilience in the ZIP, yet the resale observation shows softer pricing and sale-to-list outcomes in its own rolling window. Neither pattern establishes causation, and neither converts an area statistic into a property outcome. A reader using the screen should verify the actual advertised rent, bedroom count, included utilities, lease term, availability date, and concessions for a rental. For a sale, the relevant checks are the specific property’s transaction record, condition, listing history, repair needs, taxes, insurance, association obligations, and financing assumptions.
The evidence is most useful as a bounded comparison rather than a prediction. Zillow measures current blended asking-rent conditions; ACS measures surveyed occupied renter homes and selected utilities; HUD supplies administrative standards; and Redfin describes ZIP resale activity. Sampling uncertainty in ACS, index composition in ZORI, and the short rolling resale window all limit precision. The practical decision tension is whether a specific property’s verified rent and terms can be reconciled with an asking-rent index that is above surveyed gross rent, alongside a resale market that has recently shown weaker pricing signals. What do the property-level documents show that these area measures cannot?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow’s ZIP-level asking-rent index was $1,341 in June 2026, below the broader city, county, and metro context readings. That comparison indicates that this ZIP’s blended asking-rent level was not leading the surrounding reference geographies at the endpoint. It does not identify rent for a particular home, lease term, bedroom count, or property condition.","title":"Current asking rent sits below broader Zillow context"},{"body":"Same-month rent changes were positive over the one-, three-, and five-year intervals, so the recent movement does not reverse the observed upward path. However, the five-year pace materially exceeded the recent pace. Monthly-return variability and the observed drawdown mean that a single current ZORI reading deserves more caution than a low-variability history would warrant.","title":"Recent rent gains remain positive, but the long-run pace was stronger"},{"body":"The aggregate 30% income screen places the current asking-rent index below the matched ZCTA median household income threshold, yet nearly half of surveyed renter households were burdened by gross rent. The two measures answer different questions: one is arithmetic using an index and an area median, while the other is a survey measure of occupied renter households.","title":"Area affordability is mixed rather than conclusive"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation recorded a lower median sold price year over year, an average sale below list, and limited months of supply. Those signals belong solely to the for-sale market, but they challenge a simplistic interpretation that positive asking-rent growth alone describes all local housing conditions. The rent-price figure remains only a cross-source screening ratio.","title":"Resale softness offsets a simple rent-strength reading"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI is a blended asking-rent index rather than a lease-level rent roll. A specific unit can differ because of bedroom count, utilities, furnishings, condition, availability timing, concessions, and lease structure.","ACS estimates describe a five-year survey of occupied renter homes in a ZCTA, with survey uncertainty and selected utilities included in gross rent. They should not be treated as current advertised rents or household-specific affordability results.","The Redfin evidence is a rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation. Median-price changes, sale-to-list outcomes, and inventory can shift with the set of homes sold and do not describe rental transactions or property-level operating economics.","The income and burden screens are area-level calculations, not proof of affordability, payment capacity, vacancy, or tenant demand for a particular property. Actual household income, expenses, lease terms, and unit availability require separate verification."],"qa":[{"a":"The measures cover different populations and concepts. Zillow ZORI is a current ZIP-level index of typical observed asking rents blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The difference therefore cannot be interpreted as a direct like-for-like rent increase or pricing error.","q":"Why does the Zillow asking-rent index exceed ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom figures are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling the ZIP Zillow asking-rent index with the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative standard, not an asking-rent dataset. The modelled figures should be checked against actual listings and lease terms before being used for a specific unit.","q":"Are the bedroom rent figures observed rents for available apartments or houses?"},{"a":"No. The calculation simply divides annualized ZIP ZORI by a 30% income share to create an area-level required-income screen. It is not lending, leasing, legal, or qualification guidance. Actual qualification can depend on household income documentation, debts, savings, lease rules, deposits, guarantors, utilities, and other property-specific requirements.","q":"Does the 30% income calculation determine whether a household can qualify for a rental?"},{"a":"It adds a separate view of direct ZIP for-sale liquidity and pricing, including median sold price, marketing time, sales volume, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list behavior. It does not provide rental comparables or net operating results. Its main value here is showing that recent resale conditions may not move in lockstep with the asking-rent history.","q":"What does the resale evidence add to the rental analysis?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html"},{"key":"realtor_county","name":"Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory","release":"county inventory 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-28","url":"https://www.realtor.com/research/data/"},{"key":"redfin","name":"Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts","release":"metro tracker through 2026-05-01","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"redfin_zip","name":"Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply","release":"ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03","pulledAt":"2026-08-12","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"zillow_county","name":"Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents","release":"county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori","name":"Zillow ZORI — metro market rents","release":"Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_city","name":"Zillow ZORI — city market rents","release":"zillow_zori_city.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-29","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_zip","name":"Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents","release":"ZORI ZIP 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"}],"history":[{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":882.792229},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":916.123428},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":933.990253},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":928.343685},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":919.264604},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":931.088703},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":954.056446},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":989.812204},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":988.710604},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1010.192404},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1033.186464},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1088.265303},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1074.499576},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1065.034533},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1050.56791},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1098.197718},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1105.995823},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1107.511117},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1078.645631},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1100.359452},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1137.616014},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1153.322602},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1162.467672},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1147.142725},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1170.07448},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1186.610558},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1202.69682},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1193.062896},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1204.509383},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1214.517229},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1234.858918},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1226.435091},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1216.711677},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1234.924333},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1233.33876},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1237.736291},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1233.147423},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1250.676163},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1266.479342},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1249.040696},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1256.399049},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1258.148564},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1275.971644},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1275.580499},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1278.334477},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1279.530885},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1290.042321},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1285.467062},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1289.606371},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1283.437909},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1286.823136},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1303.08183},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1315.399473},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1316.949205},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1304.28006},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1314.243055},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1320.089979},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1316.897632},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1317.39418},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1330.481577},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1335.133167},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1337.755651},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1333.624346},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1338.809969},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1331.365733},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1335.319386},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1340.674603}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":67,"firstPeriod":"2020-12-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":67,"coverageRatio":1,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1304.28006,"endRent":1340.674603,"change":0.027903932687585398,"cagr":0.027903932687585398},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1234.858918,"endRent":1340.674603,"change":0.08569050557725344,"cagr":0.02778438047466958},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":954.056446,"endRent":1340.674603,"change":0.40523614574477684,"cagr":0.07040927226599036}},"maxDrawdown":-0.03463989240131082,"annualizedVolatility":0.05006625520443719,"consecutiveReturnCount":66}}