Orange County, NC housing market
Data through Aug 2026 · Buyer's market · leverage 71
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Home Value
$503,800
−1.7% vs. a year ago
Buyer Leverage Score
71
Sep 2026
Months of Supply
4.6 months
Aug 2026
Days on Market
61 days
Sep 2026
Price Cut %
24%
Sep 2026
Sale-to-List Ratio
98.1%
Aug 2026
Mtg Payment as % of Income
41%
Aug 2026
Rental Rate
$1,615/mo
Aug 2026
Overvalued %
23%
Aug 2026
Expected Disaster Loss
$132
Dec 2025
What this means
- Valuation. Prices are 23% above what local incomes have historically supported (this area's pre-2020 price-to-income ratio).
- Prices. Home values are down 1.7% over the past year (U.S.: +1.2%).
- Supply. There are 19% more homes for sale than the 2017-19 norm and rising (+36% vs. a year ago), so buyers have more to choose from than before the pandemic.
- Negotiating. Buyer leverage is high (71/100; U.S.: 54): homes sell for about 1.9% below their final list price; 24% of listings had a price cut (U.S.: 26%).
- Affordability. A mortgage on the typical home takes 41% of the median household income (U.S.: 35%); it takes about $124k a year to keep the payment at 30% of gross pay. That includes about $1,510 a year for home insurance (U.S.: $1,790).
- Buy vs. rent. Buying costs about $1,483/mo more than renting a typical home (mortgage payment vs. typical rent).
- Disaster risk. FEMA expects about $132 a year in natural-disaster damage per $100k of building value (U.S.: $155), mostly from flooding.
- Outlook. No clear direction: likely −8% to +8% over the next 12 months (61% chance of a rise).
Next 12 months
No clear direction
A rise is somewhat more likely than a fall, but not by enough to call. Likely change: −7.9% to +8.5% (80% range; middle estimate +1.6%), chance of a rise 61%, of a 5%+ drop 17%.
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.
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ZIP codes in Orange County, NC
| Area | Home value | 1-year change | Buyer leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapel Hill, NC 27516 | $605.9K | −1.3% | 48 |
| Chapel Hill, NC 27514 | $642.8K | −0.6% | 71 |
| Hillsborough, NC 27278 | $472.7K | −2.5% | 49 |
| Carrboro, NC 27510 | $429.9K | −3.2% | 41 |
| Efland, NC 27243 | $393.8K | −1.4% | 55 |
| Cedar Grove, NC 27231 | $401.3K | +1.0% | 83 |
| ZIP 27599 | – | – | – |