If you’ve been to a dinner party lately, or found yourself in a slightly awkward elevator ride in need of conversation topics, odds are Raleigh’s housing market has come up as a talking point.

Whether you’re currently trying to buy a house in the area, sell your home, or are just a bystander watching the madness ensue, the market is hard to ignore.

Zillow ranked Raleigh No. 2 in the country for homes with the fewest days officially listed on the market.

Redfin reports Raleigh home prices as having risen 27.3% from this time just last year, with the median price at $382,000 — which is also above the US median price of $377,222.

In WalletHub’s list of 2021’s Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers, Raleigh ranked on the “best” side as No. 16 overall + No. 3 in the large city category. According to WalletHub, 40% of all single-family home purchases in 2020 were made by first-time buyers — which is in part due to interest rates dropping during the pandemic.

In the same WalletHub study, Cary also ranked No. 3 overall for lowest property-crime rate.

Here’s a little motivation for those braving the housing market right now — reader Sandy M. told us the story of one of her family members wanting to sell their 4-story downtown townhome to downsize to a contemporary 1-story home ITB (inside the beltline).

What at first seemed like an impossible task became possible when another couple came along who was looking to sell their one-story home + buy a townhome. Long story short, they bought each other’s homes, and the rest is history.