Spring has sprung a bit early in Chapel Hill but so far there are still few homes for sale for middle income buyers.

This week’s sole option is an, um, aggressively lived in 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath condo with 1,150 square feet (much of Chapel Hill’s NOAH, naturally occurring affordable housing, is in poor condition – there’s a reason people elect to pay more to live in the “luxury” apartment buildings that so many homeowners detest).

This condo is close to Bolin Creek. So close, in fact, that Redfin says it is at “extreme risk” of  flooding. That’s another pattern worth noting: to the extent that we have lower cost housing in Chapel Hill, it tends to be located in places that flood.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are eight $1,000,000+ homes for sale. The cheapest is a $1.15m duplex that has historically been a student rental. The most expensive home for sale is a $6m single family home on 1.5 acres. It includes a pool house that’s big enough for 2-3 families but because of our zoning can only be used by the same family living in the main house.

Week of: Homes for sale
≤ $275,000		 Homes for sale
≥ $1 million
January 23, 2023 There is 1 condo for sale for $149,900. There are 9 homes available ranging in price from $1,000,000 to $6,000,000. All 9 are single family homes.
February 7, 2023 There is 1 condo for sale for $150,000. There are 7 homes available ranging in price from $1,450,000 to $6,000,000. All 7 are single family homes.
February 21, 2023 There is one condo for sale for $245,000. There are 8 homes available ranging in price from $1,150,000 to $6,000,000. Seven of the eight homes for sale are single family homes.
Table is baed on TBB’s review of Redfin.com listings of existing homes for sale within Chapel Hill town limits. Unbuilt spec homes and homes under contract are excluded. Table includes active listings in Chapel Hill for homes less than or equal to $275,000 (i.e., affordable for a household with an income of $77,000, no debt, and making a $20,000 down payment) or for sale for $1 million or more (which would be affordable for a household with an income of $250,000 making a $200,000 down payment).

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Stephen Whitlow lives in Chapel Hill. Trained as an urban planner at DCRP, he works for a research, evaluation, and technical assistance firm and focuses on the areas of housing affordability, fair housing,...