Affordable housing remains scarce in Wake County as many struggle under pandemic
The number of Wake County homes that sold for less than $300,000 plummeted over the summer while the number that sold for higher prices soared, bringing the monthly median sales price to $341,000 in August, according to data compiled by Charles Gilliam, the Wake County Register of Deeds.
The median was $310,000 in the first quarter of this year and the fourth quarter of 2019.
In the first quarter of this year, 47% of property transfers were priced below $300,000. That rate dropped to 43% in June and to 42% in July. In August, it fell to 38%.
Homes sold in the $150,000 to $249,000 price bracket decreased from 24.9% in the first quarter to 19.5% in August.
On the top end, however, homes sold in the $400,000 to $599,000 price bracket increased from 20.6% in the first quarter to 24.8% in August. And the share of homes sold for prices between $600,000 and $1 million increased from 7.7% to 10.8%.
This occurred as Wake County’s unemployment rate peaked at 11.5% in May, according to data from the county.
The summer months also saw over 1,300 eviction filings in Wake County as the state’s moratorium expired.
Continuing a trend
Increased housing costs follows a trend in Wake County over the past five years.
Property prices have soared in recent years while household income increases have lagged behind, according to data released in April by Gilliam.
From 2014 to 2019, the median price of a house in Wake County increased from $223,000 to $303,000, an increase of over 35%.
In that same time span, household median incomes went from $66,634 to $84,215, an increase of just over 26%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“The situation concerning affordable housing is not new,” Gilliam said in a press release. “It continues to be difficult for a person of moderate means to keep (their) head above water in Raleigh’s swift river of real estate flowing for more affluent people.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Affordable housing remains scarce in Wake County as many struggle under pandemic."