Wake County's Million-Dollar Home Market, 2015 to 2025: The Public-Record Count, Year by Year

Wake County recorded at least 1,471 sales of one-family homes at $1 million or more in 2025. In 2015, the same public-record count was 57.

Even read as a floor, the shift is huge. The $2 million tier moved faster still, from 2 sales to 184, and today 22,939 Wake homes are assessed at $1 million or more.

These are Wake County tax records, not listing prices and not MLS aggregates. A deed records what changed hands. The county parcel file shows the latest qualified sale retained for each property. That makes the older years conservative: if a house sold in 2015 and sold again later, only the later sale remains in the current parcel record. Read every annual count below as at least this many, not as a complete historical deed census.

For the neighborhood-level view of today's market, read Luxury Homes in Raleigh NC: The 25 Neighborhoods Where $1 Million Homes Actually Sell. For the builder story behind the top of the market, see Raleigh Luxury Real Estate: Custom Builders Built It.

How Fast Did Wake County's Million-Dollar Market Grow?

Wake County's million-dollar market broke upward after 2020 and never returned to its old scale.

Our calculation from the Wake County real estate extract dated October 13, 2026. We counted qualified sales coded by the county as Type & Use 1, “one family,” with recorded consideration of at least $1 million. New construction means the recorded build year falls within one year of the sale year. Because the extract retains a property's latest sale rather than its full sale history, the annual counts are lower bounds, especially in the earlier years.

The jump from 2020 to 2021 is the hinge: the retained count more than doubled from 254 to 592. By 2025, the retained count had kept climbing every year to 1,471.

The table also corrects an easy assumption. New construction did not create every million-dollar sale. Builders closed 379 of the 2025 transactions in this series, about one in four. Appreciation moved thousands of older homes across the million-dollar line. Custom and new construction built the ceiling; appreciation filled the floor.

How Many Wake County Homes Are Assessed at $1 Million or More?

Wake County currently has 22,939 one-family properties assessed at $1 million or more when county land and building assessments are combined.

Our calculation from the October 13, 2026 Wake County real estate extract. Assessment is not a current asking price or an appraisal for a mortgage. It is the county's combined assessed land and building value.

Almost two-thirds of Wake's million-dollar assessed stock predates 2015. At $2 million and above, the market is newer: 45% of the assessed stock was built in 2015 or later. That is where the Triangle's custom builders have changed the map.

What Did Builders Put Into Each New-Home Permit?

The Census Bureau's building-permit records show how far the authorized construction value of a new single-family home moved between 2015 and 2025. The figure excludes land and is not the home's sale price.

U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, annual county files. Value per permit is reported one-unit construction value divided by reported one-unit permits; dollars are nominal and exclude land.

Wake permitted more single-family homes than the other three counties combined in both years. Chatham carried the highest authorized value per permit in 2025, at $520,662. Durham more than doubled its value per permit over the decade. These figures do not say every permitted house was luxury. They do show how much more money is going into each permitted home before the lot is counted.

What Does This Mean for Wake County Buyers and Sellers?

The decade-long rise changes the decisions on both sides of the table.

Buyers need to separate the price point from the product

A million-dollar resale built years ago and a new custom home at the same price are not substitutes. Compare systems, lot, renovation exposure and construction quality before comparing the round number. A buyer who only searches new construction will miss most million-dollar sales. A buyer who only searches resale will miss a much larger share of the $2 million market.

Sellers have more competition than the listing screen shows

Your competition is not limited to the active resale down the street. It includes builder inventory, off-market custom work and older homes that appreciation pushed into the same price band. Price against the house a buyer can choose next, not the number you hoped your ZIP code would support.

Both sides need public records and field knowledge

The deed tells you what sold. The parcel record tells you what was built and what the county assesses. Neither tells you whether the kitchen needs replacing, the lot drains well or the builder cut the right corners. The numbers narrow the field. Experience reads the house.

Buy or Sell With a Team That Builds and Sells

We have worked in Triangle real estate for 18 years, and we know this market from both sides of the foundation. We sell the older homes that appreciated into the million-dollar tier. We also help clients choose lots, vet builders and price custom construction before the first shovel hits dirt.

If you are buying or selling above $1 million in Wake County, talk to the Tim M. Clarke Team. We will show you the recorded sales, the real competition and the building costs behind the number.

Sources and Method

• Wake County real estate property data files, extract dated October 13, 2026 (qualified-sale flag, Type & Use, sale price, sale date, year built, assessed land and building values; our calculations): https://www.wake.gov/departments-government/tax-administration/data-files-statistics-and-reports/real-estate-property-data-files
• Wake County code descriptions and record layout (Type & Use 1 and qualified-sale definitions): https://www.wake.gov/departments-government/tax-administration/data-files-statistics-and-reports/real-estate-property-data-files
• Wake County annual residential sales summaries for 2015 and 2025 (cross-check of annual scope; the summaries report totals and medians, not million-dollar price bands): https://www.wake.gov/departments-government/tax-administration/data-files-statistics-and-reports/residential-properties-sold-year
• U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, 2015 county annual file: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/co2015a.txt
• U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, 2025 county annual file: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/co2025a.txt