Wake County, NC real estate

What the numbers say

Wake County, NC real estate at a glance

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

In September 2026, the median home in Wake County listed for $479,000, down 4.0% from a year earlier. That is 20% above the North Carolina median of $400,000.

Homes spent a median of 58 days on the market, slower than 57 days a year ago. That makes Wake County the #6 fastest-selling of 53 North Carolina counties we track.

Homeowners in Wake County pay a median of $3,260 a year in property taxes on a median home value of $461,300, an effective rate of about 0.71%. The North Carolina average is 0.66%, which makes Wake County the #64 lowest-tax of 100 counties in the state with published tax data.

Renters pay a median of $1,623 a month, and $1,600 for a two-bedroom. At today's prices a typical home costs about 25 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 $479,000 home here comes to about $3,093 including property tax and insurance. Lenders typically want that to be under 28% of income, which works out to roughly $133,000 a year (the median household here earns $105,768).