The Properties

The Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill area is often referred to as the Research Triangle due to the major universities and the medical and technology employers in the area. Buying in Durham, allows for access to all three cities which makes the area particularly attractive. With so many students in the area, rentals promise to have durable demand for the foreseeable future. If you're looking for some numbers, RentCafe lists the Research Triangle, aka the Piedmont Triad in this article, as one of the most sought after rental markets in the U.S. This may not be slowing down any time soon as Durham's population is expected to double in the next 25 years.

Durham has made a couple lists of the "hottest real estate markets", so let's look at what that means. Employment gains in Durham have been strong despite the initial downturn from the pandemic, so real estate and rentals have strong built-in demand. Zillow says that nearby Raleigh will have the second highest home value appreciation in the country in 2022 which bodes well for the entire area. Durham may also be insulated from larger economic issues too. If the stock market trends lower, certain markets will be affected more than others as buyers have less cash available. For better or for worse Durham tends not to be as tied to the stock market's fortunes as other U.S. cities.

As one of the hottest areas for real estate, Durham must have seen some of the highest home value appreciation in recent years, right? Wrong. Durham has seen appreciation of 17.5% in the last year which is 105th out of 264 cities ranked by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Perhaps there's still more room to grow? Or perhaps Durham's more stable rental and employment situation simply supports a more steady growth trend for real estate property values. For this year, realtor.com predicts a 4.2% increase in home values.

All this demand has driven prices up as you might assume. Florida Atlantic University's School of Business calculates that Durham real estate properties are overpriced by 40.9%, the 17th most out of 100 in the list. Given that all but one locale on the list is considered overpriced, perhaps we are in a nationwide real estate bubble? With a chronic shortage in the housing supply and generational demand coming from millenials, experts think not yet. However, rising interest rates and high prices should cool things off at some point.

The Properties

Our #1 property is a modest home on a tremendous 40+ acre lot. Aside from appreciation, this could be a great opportunity for the right buyer depending on the options for the land as there are 280,000 people in Durham alone, representing a lot of demand for anything new that could be built there.

If you're looking for a smaller initial investment, property #6 could be a good fit. It's a good sized 2000+ square foot home on a large half-acre lot. At about half the median price of a real estate property in Durham, this home is attractive and in good shape. The discount appears to be coming from a managable amount of rehab work.

Reading Resources

Durham Housing Market Data from Housing Tides
Realtor's 2022 National Housing Forecast
USA’s 10 Best Places to Buy Vacation Rental Property in 2022 from Lodgify
From Zillow, Why Tampa will be 2022's Hottest Market
PricewaterhouseCooper's Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2022
The Business School at Florida Atlantic University's Beracha and Johnson Housing Market Ranking
Federal Housing Finance Agency's Change in FHFA Metropolitan Area House Price Indexes
Livability's 2021 Top 100 Best Places to Live In America
Livability's 8 Reasons to Move to Durham, NC
U.S. News and World Report looks at Raleigh and Durham
Redfin Looks at the Durham Housing Market
The Motley Fool's 10 Best Cities to Invest in Rental Properties in 2022