In recent years, the major metro markets in the Carolinas have become key expansion targets for builders, driven by in-migration, relative affordability, and steady job growth. The market ranked in the top five for Zonda’s 2026 Markets to Watch due to employment growth, incomes, the number of Fortune 500 companies present, and new home sales rates. As an illustration of the strength of the Carolinas, four of the top five markets to watch were in the two states (Charleston and Columbia in South Carolina and Raleigh and Charlotte in North Carolina).
The Zonda Raleigh Dealmakers event will highlight the dynamics impacting the new-home sector in the North Carolina market, factors to watch in 2026, and strategies for shifting market conditions.
After several years of growth, Raleigh’s housing market is experiencing moderation: starts levels are down around 20% on an annual basis while closings are down more than 10%. New-home sales have been trending downward over the last 12 months while new-home and existing-home prices have remained relatively stable.
The long-term outlook in Raleigh remains supported by strong fundamentals. Raleigh benefits from positive job and household growth including record household growth in 2025. This growth is underpinned by the strength of the Triangle region’s research universities and biotechnology sector. These structural advantages have helped insulate the market from broader economic volatility.
At the same time, though, the new-home pending sales index in Raleigh has posted year-over-year declines in all but one month since late 2024. The average new-home list price has been trending downward on a month-over-month basis since October 2025. There is an upward trend in months of supply and days on market locally, as new home listings are up by over 25% from one year ago.
Despite these trends, expansion efforts in the surrounding markets in Raleigh, including high growth areas such as Knightdale, Clayton, Garner, Wendell, and Harnett County to the south of the Raleigh MSA. These submarkets offer good value for home buyers: attainable pricing within a reasonable commute time to employment concentrations in Raleigh, the Research Triangle Park, and other business nodes.
“Raleigh has all of the ingredients needed for a vibrant for-sale housing market: an educated workforce, high incomes, job growth, and migration across multi-generations and locations,” says Shaun McCutcheon, Zonda’s vice president of advisory, Carolinas.
At the Raleigh Dealmakers event, Zonda advisory experts, including McCutcheon, Ali Wolf, Nicollette Chapman, and Tim Sullivan will discuss the regional and national housing landscape.
The Raleigh Dealmakers event takes place May 19 at the Hilton Raleigh North Hills. Register here.
