September closings put Raleigh’s median sold price at $425,000 and Durham’s at $420,000, with both averaging about 52 days on market. Most Wake County towns closed September below their trailing-12-month median, and the 30-year fixed rate was 7.32% on October 22. This is a slower, more negotiable fall market than the spring was, and the numbers below show exactly where.
- September 2026 by town: median price and days on market
- Where September sits against the last 12 months
- Fastest and slowest towns right now
- Spring versus fall: the seasonality in the data
- Raleigh and Durham, the two anchors
- Mortgage rates: where the 30-year is this week
- What this means for buyers
- What this means for sellers
September 2026 by town: median price and days on market
The table below is pulled from Triangle MLS residential statistics for closings recorded in September 2026, the most recent full month. “Median” is the median sold price for the month. “DOM” is the average days on market for homes that closed that month. The third column is the median of the twelve monthly medians from October 2025 through September 2026, which is a steadier read on where a town actually trades than any single month.
| Town | Sept 2026 median | 12-month median | Sept avg DOM | 12-month range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | $425,000 | $447,725 | 52 | $405,000 – $470,000 |
| Durham | $420,000 | $409,995 | 52 | $381,115 – $425,000 |
| Cary | $593,750 | $611,875 | 37 | $555,000 – $660,000 |
| Apex | $559,599 | $617,074 | 40 | $525,000 – $652,045 |
| Holly Springs | $590,000 | $603,750 | 29 | $578,500 – $665,000 |
| Morrisville | $512,000 | $507,834 | 62 | $400,000 – $552,500 |
| Wake Forest | $465,950 | $503,750 | 74 | $448,995 – $540,000 |
| Rolesville | $415,000 | $430,990 | 47 | $389,990 – $509,185 |
| Chapel Hill | $665,000 | $641,975 | 56 | $572,500 – $715,000 |
| Carrboro | $469,000 | $461,250 | 54 | $342,000 – $660,000 |
| Hillsborough | $488,995 | $510,000 | 49 | $435,000 – $572,500 |
| Clayton | $369,995 | $374,218 | 59 | $357,450 – $380,000 |
Two things stand out before any analysis. First, the price spread across the region is wide: Clayton’s September median is $369,995 and Chapel Hill’s is $665,000, a difference of nearly $300,000 within one metro area. Second, the Wake County suburbs west of Raleigh (Cary, Apex, Holly Springs) are still the fastest-moving part of the market, even in a slower month.
Where September sits against the last 12 months
Ranking each town’s September median against its own twelve monthly readings tells you whether this month is high, low or typical for that town.
Eight of the twelve towns closed September below their 12-month median. Raleigh’s $425,000 is the second-lowest monthly median of the twelve; only January 2026 ($405,000) was lower. Apex’s $559,599 and Holly Springs’ $590,000 are also second-lowest for their towns, with Apex well under its 12-month median of $617,074. Wake Forest ($465,950), Rolesville ($415,000) and Clayton ($369,995) all posted their third-lowest month. Hillsborough ($488,995) was fourth-lowest. Cary ($593,750) landed roughly in the middle of its range.
The exceptions are Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Morrisville, which closed September at or above their 12-month medians. Durham’s $420,000 is its third-highest month of the twelve. That is consistent with what we see on the ground: Durham has been firmer than Raleigh through the summer and early fall, partly because its price point draws buyers priced out of Wake County.
A note on comparisons: this series is twelve months long, so we do not have a true year-over-year read. The oldest month, October 2025, is eleven months before September 2026. Against that month, Raleigh is down 6.1% ($452,500 to $425,000), Cary is down 8.7% ($650,000 to $593,750) and Apex is down 13.2% ($644,845 to $559,599). Durham is up 3.7% ($405,000 to $420,000), Chapel Hill is up 3.9% ($640,250 to $665,000) and Clayton is up 3.5% ($357,450 to $369,995). Treat those as eleven-month moves, not annual ones, and treat the single-month figures with the caution described below.
- Raleigh median sold price: $425,000, average 52 days on market Triangle MLS, Sept 2026 closings, pulled Oct 28, 2026
- Durham median sold price: $420,000, average 52 days on market Triangle MLS, Sept 2026
- Fastest town: Holly Springs at 29 days; slowest: Wake Forest at 74 days Triangle MLS, Sept 2026
- 8 of 12 towns closed September below their 12-month median price Triangle MLS, Oct 2025 – Sept 2026
- 30-year fixed mortgage rate: 7.32% Freddie Mac PMMS, Oct 22, 2026
Fastest and slowest towns right now
Days on market is the cleaner signal this month because it moves on demand rather than on which houses happened to close. The fastest three towns in September were Holly Springs (29.4 days), Cary (36.7) and Apex (40.0). All three also got faster or held steady from August: Holly Springs was 30.6 in August, Cary 38.3 and Apex 44.2. Buyers who want west Wake still need to be ready to write within the first week on a correctly priced home.
The slowest three were Wake Forest (74.0 days), Morrisville (61.8) and Clayton (58.7). Wake Forest has been the slowest town in this set for most of the year; its 12-month average is 67 days and it has not posted a month under 51. That reflects a lot of new-construction competition north of Raleigh and a resale inventory that skews toward larger, higher-priced homes that take longer to sell. Morrisville’s September jump from 39.6 to 61.8 days is sharp but Morrisville is a small market where a few slow condo or townhome closings can move the average by weeks.
Raleigh and Durham sit in the middle at about 52 days each, both up from August (49.5 and 45.3 respectively). Chapel Hill moved from 31.8 days in August to 55.6 in September, and Carrboro from 14.9 to 53.5. In both Orange County towns the August figures were unusually low, so part of the September jump is reversion rather than a sudden stall.
Spring versus fall: the seasonality in the data
Twelve months is enough to see the seasonal pattern clearly, and it is pronounced in the Triangle. Taking the average of April, May and June and comparing it with the average of December, January and February, every town in the set sold faster in spring. Raleigh averaged 42 days on market in spring against 61 in winter. Durham was 41 versus 66. Cary was 30 versus 55. Holly Springs was 22 versus 53, and Morrisville, at 41 versus 74, had the widest swing in the group.
Prices follow the same curve in the higher-priced towns. Cary’s spring-quarter median averaged roughly $652,000 against $565,000 in winter. Chapel Hill averaged about $703,000 in spring against $593,000 in winter. Apex was about $624,000 against $584,000. Raleigh and Durham moved less: Raleigh’s spring median averaged about $450,000 against $433,000 in winter, Durham about $418,000 against $391,000. Part of this is genuine seasonal demand and part is mix: larger family homes close in spring and early summer when buyers are timing a move around the school calendar, which pulls the median up.
September is where the series turns down toward the winter pattern. DOM rose from August in eight of twelve towns, and most medians slipped. If the series behaves as it did a year ago, expect October through February to bring longer marketing times and more price reductions, and then a visible tightening by March.
Monthly medians in the smaller towns swing on mix, not just on the market. Carrboro’s monthly median ranged from $342,000 to $660,000 over these twelve months. Rolesville ran from $389,990 to $509,185 and Hillsborough from $435,000 to $572,500. Those are towns with a few dozen closings a month at most, so one builder releasing a batch of townhomes, or three large homes closing in the same week, moves the number by five figures. Read the 12-month median for those towns, not the single month, and read DOM for direction.
Raleigh and Durham, the two anchors
Raleigh and Durham account for the bulk of closings in this set, so they are the best read on the region. The two cities are now within $5,000 of each other on median sold price for September ($425,000 and $420,000), which is unusual. Over the twelve months Raleigh’s median of monthly medians is $447,725 against Durham’s $409,995, a gap of about $38,000. September closed that gap almost entirely, with Raleigh falling to its second-lowest month and Durham posting its third-highest.
Days on market tell a similar story in reverse. Durham was faster than Raleigh in four of the five months from April through August, bottoming at 39.1 days in July. In September the two converged at 52 days. Durham’s winter was slower than Raleigh’s (73.7 days in January versus Raleigh’s 61.2), so if the pattern repeats, expect Durham’s average DOM to lengthen more than Raleigh’s over the next four months.
For a buyer deciding between the two, the September data is a reminder that Durham’s price advantage over Raleigh is narrower than it was and is mostly a function of which neighborhoods you are comparing. For sellers in Raleigh, a 52-day average means pricing to the last 60 days of comparable sales, not to the spring.
Mortgage rates: where the 30-year is this week
Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.32% for the week ending October 22, 2026, down from 7.40% the two prior weeks. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.68%. A month earlier, on September 24, the 30-year was 7.03%, so rates rose nearly four-tenths of a point through early October before easing slightly.
The practical effect: on a $400,000 loan, the difference between 7.03% and 7.32% is roughly $78 a month in principal and interest. That is not what is slowing the market by itself, but it is why so many September buyers in this data leaned on seller-paid rate buydowns and builder financing rather than paying list price. Nearly every builder in the Triangle is advertising a rate well below 7% through its affiliated lender this month; see our new construction page for the current offers and their deadlines.
What this means for buyers
This is the most negotiable stretch of the year in most of the Triangle. Eight of twelve towns are trading below their 12-month median, DOM is lengthening almost everywhere, and sellers who listed in late summer are now 60 to 90 days in. In Raleigh, Wake Forest, Rolesville and Clayton specifically, the data supports asking for closing cost credits or a rate buydown on homes that have been on the market more than 45 days.
West Wake is the exception. Holly Springs, Cary and Apex are still moving in 29 to 40 days on average, and a well-priced home there will have multiple offers in October just as it did in May. Apex’s low September median looks like mix (more townhomes and smaller homes closing), not a price break, and the DOM confirms demand is intact.
If you are relocating and flexible on timing, the series suggests that January and February closings, which means contracts written in November and December, have historically been the best-priced window. The trade is thinner inventory.
What this means for sellers
Price to the fall, not the spring. The spring-quarter median in Cary was about $86,000 higher than the winter-quarter median; in Chapel Hill the gap was about $110,000. Comps from April through June will overstate what a home will bring in November. Pull the last 60 days of sales and weight toward the most recent.
Expect to carry the listing longer. Average DOM in Raleigh, Durham and the smaller towns is now in the 50s, and in Wake Forest it is in the 70s. A listing that does not have an offer in three weeks is not failing; it is on pace. But a listing with no showings in two weeks is overpriced, and the cost of waiting is real when the next 90 days are historically the softest.
If you can wait, March through June is the better window in every town in this set. If you cannot, lead with the concession buyers are asking for (closing costs or a rate buydown) rather than a price cut; it costs less and it is what the competing new-construction inventory is offering.
Tell us which town and price range you are working in and we will pull the current Triangle MLS numbers for that segment, not the regional average, and walk you through what they mean for your timing.
Sources: Triangle MLS (Doorify MLS) residential market statistics, monthly median sold price and average days on market by town, October 2025 through September 2026, pulled October 28, 2026. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, weeks ending September 24, October 1, October 8, October 15 and October 22, 2026 (freddiemac.com/pmms; FRED series MORTGAGE30US). Payment illustration calculated by Tidal Realty Partners on a 30-year amortization, principal and interest only.
