Durham rents and rental comps

Name: Durham, NC rental market data
Creator: PropMetrics

The median asking rent across 6 Durham zip codes is $1,663/month, down 2.2% from a year ago.

Duke University and Research Triangle biotech keep Durham tight with well-paid renters who aren't going anywhere. Low vacancy, high demand, tenants with advanced degrees and the paychecks to match.

Median Asking Rent

$1,663

Rent Change (YoY)

-2.2%

Avg Days on Market

Active Rental Listings

5,348

Median List Price

$435,000

Median Asking Rent Over Time

Average across 6 zip codes

12 months-0.4%

Median Asking Rent by ZIP Code

Rental Listings by ZIP Code

ZIP	Median Rent	YoY Growth	$/Sqft	Avg DOM	Listings
27712	$2,100/mo	-12.5%	$1.19	16	32
27703	$1,918/mo	+9.6%	$1.57	8	1,791
27701	$1,676/mo	-1.6%	$2.19	7	1,072
27704	$1,650/mo	-2.7%	$1.37	20	339
27713	$1,449/mo	-4.2%	$1.43	7	995
27707	$1,425/mo	-1.7%	$1.54	8	1,119

Comps for any address in Durham

Type the address, get the comps. No setup.

Median Asking Rent by Bedroom

Unit Size	Median Rent	$/Sqft
Studio	$1,395/mo	$2.65/sqft
1 Bedroom	$1,483/mo	$1.76/sqft
2 Bedroom	$1,780/mo	$1.59/sqft
3 Bedroom	$2,040/mo	$1.39/sqft
4 Bedroom	$2,500/mo	$1.21/sqft

Aggregated median across all Durham zip codes with available data.

For-Sale Listings by ZIP Code

ZIP	Median List Price	YoY Change	$/Sqft
27701	$509,900	+2.0%	$370.11
27712	$472,500	+7.4%	$222.58
27707	$465,000	0.0%	$254.95
27705	$435,000	-12.1%	$261.10
27713	$429,000	-3.6%	$229.11
27703	$409,900	-3.8%	$211.48
27704	$330,000	+4.8%	$213.55

HUD Fair Market Rents

Unit Size	Fair Market Rent	Median Asking Rent	Difference
Studio	$1,400/mo	$1,395/mo	-0%
1 Bedroom	$1,480/mo	$1,483/mo	+0%
2 Bedroom	$1,690/mo	$1,780/mo	+5%
3 Bedroom	$2,110/mo	$2,040/mo	-3%
4 Bedroom	$2,530/mo	$2,500/mo	-1%

HUD publishes Fair Market Rents once a year for the Durham metro area. Local housing authorities use them to set Section 8 voucher payment standards, usually 90% to 110% of the FMR.

About the Durham rental market

The median asking rent across Durham, NC sits at $1,663/month, pulled from active rental listings in 6 zip codes. That's down 2.2% from a year ago.

Rents aren't uniform across the city. ZIP 27712 tops the list at $2,100/month. ZIP 27707 comes in lowest at $1,425/month. About a 47% gap between the two ends of the city.

A 2-bedroom rents for $1,780/month at the median. 1-bedrooms run about $1,483. 3-bedrooms come in around $2,040.

Rental listings here lease fast. Average time on market is 11 days. Mispriced units still sit, but a fair-market price moves quickly.

Rent-to-price math is tight in Durham. The gross figure sits at about 4.6% ($1,663/month against $435,000 median price). Most investors here are betting on appreciation, not monthly cash flow.

HUD's Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in the Durham metro is $1,690/month. Asking rents come in about 2% below the federal benchmark, which can make Section 8 properties competitive here.

Durham is the other half of the Research Triangle alongside Raleigh, and Duke University is the anchor. Duke's hospital system and the surrounding biotech corridor produce well-paying jobs and a steady stream of medical professionals who rent. Downtown Durham has revitalized significantly. The American Tobacco Campus area and Brightleaf Square pull premium rents. South Durham and the eastern parts of the city are cheaper. Smaller than Raleigh and a thinner market, but the renter base quality is high. North Carolina stays landlord-friendly. The Triangle as a whole has been one of the more consistent growth markets in the Southeast.

These numbers are city-wide averages. If you're pricing a specific property in Durham, pull comps from the same zip code. The spread is usually bigger than people expect.