Durham County, NC real estate

What the numbers say

Durham County, NC real estate at a glance

By AstroCore · Realtor.com, US Census and Freddie Mac data

In September 2026, the median home in Durham County listed for $405,113, down 7.7% from a year earlier. That is 1% above the North Carolina median of $400,000.

Homes spent a median of 61 days on the market, slower than 56 days a year ago. That makes Durham County the #11 fastest-selling of 53 North Carolina counties we track.

Homeowners in Durham County pay a median of $3,092 a year in property taxes on a median home value of $389,400, an effective rate of about 0.79%. The North Carolina average is 0.66%, which makes Durham County the #83 lowest-tax of 100 counties in the state with published tax data.

Renters pay a median of $1,508 a month, and $1,514 for a two-bedroom. At today's prices a typical home costs about 22 times a year's rent, which generally favors renting over buying in the short term.

With 20% down and today's 7.24% average 30-year rate, the monthly payment on a $405,000 home here comes to about $2,646 including property tax and insurance. Lenders typically want that to be under 28% of income, which works out to roughly $113,000 a year (the median household here earns $82,316).