Hey everyone!

If you're thinking about or already actively investing in Raleigh, North Carolina and trying to keep up with what's happening here—I went pretty deep into the weeds in the MLS to see where the market is heading as we wrap up summer.

Bottom line up front: The biggest trend we're seeing right now is that investors on the buy side have a lot more room to be selective than they did even a year ago. I think we all know that. But that certainly doesn't mean every property is suddenly a deal. The major sticking point is that many sellers are reluctant to come down on price and haven't adjusted to the fact that this is not the market we had a couple of years ago. Rates have climbed again recently, too. And Raleigh is starting to segment, which makes it extremely important in the short run to be location-specific.

Here are the August numbers I pulled for Raleigh residential properties:

Median sold price: $447,450, down from $470,000 YoY (about 4.8% lower).
Active listings: 2,338, up from 2,176 (about 7.4% higher).
Closed sales: 530, down from 581 (about 8.8% lower).
Pending sales: 517, down from 551 (about 6.2% lower).
New listings: 751, almost unchanged from 755.
Average days on market: 49.5, compared with 51.5 last year.

Based on information from Doorify MLS, Inc. for the period August 1, 2026 through August 31, 2026.

Basically - more choice and a lower median sold price give buyers more leverage, but they don't mean every seller has accepted a new price. Evidenced by more homes going off market without ever selling. In my experience, and with average days on market slightly lower than last year, this is clearly not a market where *everything is just sitting. The good properties can still move quickly.

At the time of this post, rates have risen to north of 7% for FHA and nearing 8% for a conventional investor loan product. These are rough estimates. While we've seen it go up and down the last several years, this is definitely playing a huge part in how Raleigh's market is behaving right now.

What's working right now?

The biggest risk right now is appreciation in the short run. Flippers are having a TOUGH time if they don't have experience, in house crews, and enough margin. Most sellers aren't giving enough to give those margins. And most importantly, the market is segmenting quickly so short term volatility is an issue. Tried and true resale markets are *currently losing to many new construction heavy pockets but I'd expect that advantage to flip somewhat when rates improve OR builder rate incentives weaken (already starting to see some of that happening). In this market you really have to buy for the long run right now and or get very creative. That's why I still love house hacking, STRs, build to rent, MTR, etc in Raleigh.

On the short-term rental side, AirDNA's broader Raleigh/Durham market showed about 5,132 active short-term-rental listings, up roughly 3.7% year over year. The good news is average annual gross revenue was also up about 3.9%, to roughly $32,200. Average daily rate rose about 3.4%. More than with almost any other strategy, location is going to drive your results. And I get that this isn't the right approach for every investor but I see more considering it in 2026.

This summer, we got more options. We're starting to see some discounts, and this is definitely the time to be more careful, more thoughtful, and really leverage those options. I do believe it's a good time to take advantage of a relatively flat market. Raleigh is still growing and building, and it continues to attract people who want to move here. In the long run, investing in Raleigh is the right move in my opinion. We just need to get location-specific, avoid overpaying in the short run, and make sure the property can actually rent the way we expect it to. Will see what fall holds!