Five Points takes its name from the intersection where Glenwood Avenue, Whitaker Mill Road and Fairview Road meet, about two miles north of the State Capitol. The commercial strip at that corner, anchored by the Rialto Theatre, Hayes Barton Pharmacy and a tight row of restaurants, is the center of a cluster of 1920s and 1930s neighborhoods: Hayes Barton, Bloomsbury, Vanguard Park, Roanoke Park, Georgetown and the streets around Whitaker Mill. Most of the housing is original: Craftsman bungalows, brick Colonials, Tudor revivals and a smaller number of mid-century ranches, on lots with mature oaks and sidewalks that were laid before the Beltline existed.

What sets Five Points apart inside the Beltline is that it is genuinely walkable and still residential. Buyers can walk to dinner, coffee, the pharmacy and the Glenwood Village shopping center, and then walk home to a quiet street. Demand here is consistent across market cycles because inventory is fixed; no one is building more 1925 bungalows. The trade-off is that buyers pay for the location and often take on a renovation or a home that was renovated by someone else. We spend a lot of time here reviewing additions, permits and crawl spaces, because the age of the housing stock rewards careful due diligence.

Five Points is among the most expensive neighborhoods in Raleigh. Smaller original bungalows and the handful of condos and townhomes near Glenwood start around $600K; renovated bungalows and 1930s Colonials in Bloomsbury, Vanguard Park and Roanoke Park trade between $850K and $1.4M; Hayes Barton estates and new custom rebuilds on the larger lots run from $1.5M to $2.5M and above. Published neighborhood medians from Redfin and Zillow sat in the mid-$900Ks through 2026, with sold prices near $475 per square foot. Lot size, proximity to the Five Points corner and the quality of the renovation drive the premiums. Median price and days on market above reflect the trailing 12 months of Triangle MLS closed sales.

Life in Five Points is organized around the corner. Residents walk to breakfast, catch a film at the Rialto, and run into neighbors at the Glenwood Village Harris Teeter. The neighborhood associations are active, the holiday luminaries draw visitors from across the city, and the sidewalks are busy on any decent evening.

• The Five Points corner — the Rialto Theatre, Hayes Barton Cafe & Dessertery, NOFO at the Pig, Lilly’s Pizza and the Glenwood Avenue restaurant row
• Fred Fletcher Park — the rose garden, lawn, pond and the arts programs in the Borden Building a few blocks south on Wade Avenue
• Glenwood Village & Whitaker Mill — grocery, pharmacy and the newer restaurant and brewery openings along Whitaker Mill Road
• Roanoke Park & the Capital Area Greenway — the pocket park at the center of the Roanoke Park neighborhood, with greenway connections toward Crabtree Creek

Five Points is served by the Wake County Public School System. Most addresses assign to Lacy, Root or Underwood Elementary, Oberlin or Martin Middle, and Broughton High, one of the most sought-after base assignments in Raleigh. Joyner Elementary, a Spanish-language and IB magnet on Lowden Street a few blocks away, is an application option, and Wake’s magnet program opens Enloe High and Ligon Middle to Five Points families as well. St. Timothy’s School and Ravenscroft are the nearby private options, and Raleigh’s Catholic schools are a short drive. Assignment is by address and changes at the edges of the neighborhood, so we confirm it before you write an offer.

Five Points sits on Glenwood Avenue between downtown and the I-440 Beltline. Downtown Raleigh is 5 to 8 minutes by car and a 30-minute walk or 12-minute bike ride on the Glenwood corridor. Wade Avenue connects directly to I-40, so RDU airport is about 20 minutes, Research Triangle Park 25 and downtown Durham 30 to 35. North Hills is 7 minutes north and Crabtree Valley Mall about 10. GoRaleigh’s Glenwood route runs through the corner, and the neighborhood posts some of the highest Walk Scores of any single-family area in the city.

There is no new-community construction in Five Points; new homes here are custom rebuilds and large additions on existing lots, typically by Raleigh’s inside-the-Beltline builders such as Homes by Dickerson, Loyd Builders and Rufty Homes, and they trade at the top of the price range. Infill townhomes and condos appear occasionally along Glenwood Avenue and Whitaker Mill Road. Five Points buyers who want a new home at a lower price per square foot cross-shop the new condo and townhome projects downtown, 5401 North in northeast Raleigh, and the Wake Forest communities, usually 20 to 30 minutes further from the corner. See our Triangle new-construction builder pages.