Lincoln County, NC housing market
Data through Aug 2026 · Buyer's market · leverage 77
Open on the mapMarket report (PDF)Compare
Home Value
$403,855
+1.8% vs. a year ago
Buyer Leverage Score
77
Sep 2026
Months of Supply
5.0 months
Aug 2026
Days on Market
57 days
Sep 2026
Price Cut %
30%
Sep 2026
Sale-to-List Ratio
97.7%
Aug 2026
Mtg Payment as % of Income
36%
Aug 2026
Rental Rate
$1,648/mo
Aug 2026
Overvalued %
32%
Aug 2026
Expected Disaster Loss
$106
Dec 2025
What this means
- Valuation. Prices are 32% above what local incomes have historically supported (this area's pre-2020 price-to-income ratio).
- Prices. Home values are up 1.8% over the past year (U.S.: +1.2%).
- Supply. There are 16% more homes for sale than the 2017-19 norm and rising (+9% vs. a year ago), so buyers have more to choose from than before the pandemic.
- Negotiating. Buyer leverage is high (77/100; U.S.: 54): homes sell for about 2.3% below their final list price; 30% of listings had a price cut (U.S.: 26%).
- Affordability. A mortgage on the typical home takes 36% of the median household income (U.S.: 35%); it takes about $95k a year to keep the payment at 30% of gross pay. That includes about $1,346 a year for home insurance (U.S.: $1,790).
- Buy vs. rent. Buying costs about $737/mo more than renting a typical home (mortgage payment vs. typical rent).
- Disaster risk. FEMA expects about $106 a year in natural-disaster damage per $100k of building value (U.S.: $155), mostly from flooding.
- Outlook. Leaning up: likely −6% to +10% over the next 12 months (69% chance of a rise).
Next 12 months
Leaning up
Prices are more likely to rise than fall over the next year. Likely change: −6.5% to +9.9% (80% range; middle estimate +3.0%), chance of a rise 69%, of a 5%+ drop 13%.
HouseVane's model, refit every month on local market signals and national ones, trained only on data known at the time. How accurate it has been.
Follow Lincoln County, NC
One email a month: what changed in prices, supply and the outlook. Unsubscribe any time.
ZIP codes in Lincoln County, NC
| Area | Home value | 1-year change | Buyer leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincolnton, NC 28092 | $298.3K | +2.0% | 75 |
| Denver, NC 28037 | $549.1K | −0.4% | 71 |
| Vale, NC 28168 | $297.4K | +4.4% | 73 |
| Iron Station, NC 28080 | $419.9K | +1.3% | 71 |
| Crouse, NC 28033 | $297.9K | +3.0% | 99 |