THE SEARCH LEDGER · RALEIGH-DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA · REAL ESTATE
Every month Raleigh-Durham types 90,080 real estate searches into Google. This is the public record of what those searches are, what they cost, and who currently answers them.
Relative search interest by month, indexed 0–100. The pink outline marks the peak. Interest runs highest in AUG and lowest in DEC.
SRC: Google Trends relative interest for the Real Estate category in Raleigh-Durham — a 0–100 index, not a search count. One curve per category is the granularity available; it is not split per keyword.
The 20 highest-volume of 95 tracked keywords, priced at what advertisers actually bid. The dearest click here is “realtor near me” at $11.14.
| # | KEYWORD | VOL/MO | CPC | DIFFICULTY | INTENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | apartments near me | 33,100 | $4.32 | 41 | transactional |
| 2 | apartments in raleigh nc | 9,900 | $5.18 | 17 | commercial |
| 3 | houses for rent raleigh nc | 6,600 | $2.57 | 0 | transactional |
| 4 | raleigh homes for sale | 5,400 | $2.65 | 15 | transactional |
| 5 | apartments durham nc | 5,400 | $5.28 | 10 | commercial |
| 6 | homes for sale near me | 5,400 | $1.42 | 63 | transactional |
| 7 | homes for sale durham nc | 3,600 | $1.83 | 4 | transactional |
| 8 | homes for sale cary nc | 3,600 | $0.82 | 1 | transactional |
| 9 | realtor com raleigh | 2,900 | $1.04 | 6 | commercial |
| 10 | homes for sale apex nc | 1,900 | $1.85 | 0 | transactional |
| 11 | holly springs nc homes for sale | 1,900 | $1.61 | 6 | transactional |
| 12 | raleigh real estate | 880 | $0.50 | navigational | |
| 13 | realtor near me | 880 | $11.14 | 65 | transactional |
| 14 | homes for sale 27615 | 720 | $0.29 | 0 | transactional |
| 15 | raleigh realtors | 590 | $7.72 | 54 | commercial |
| 16 | homes for sale 27613 | 590 | $0.21 | 0 | transactional |
| 17 | raleigh real estate brokers | 480 | $1.33 | branded | |
| 18 | north raleigh homes for sale | 390 | $2.51 | 6 | transactional |
| 19 | homes for sale 27609 | 390 | $0.27 | 0 | transactional |
| 20 | raleigh homes for sale zillow | 320 | $4.73 | branded |
SRC: DataForSEO, Raleigh-Durham metro, Sep 8, 2026. Volume and CPC are Google Ads twelve-month averages, so neither moves week to week. Difficulty is DataForSEO’s 0–100 score; blank where it has not been scored.
Live position tracking for the tracked keyword in this vertical — who Google puts in the map pack, and who holds page one.
SRC: DataForSEO, Raleigh-Durham metro, Sep 8, 2026. LOCAL marks an organic domain that matches a business tracked in this metro; an unmarked domain is simply not one of them, which includes directories and firms we do not track.
The 12 most-reviewed businesses we track in this vertical, with the profile signals that put them where they are.
| RANK | BUSINESS | RATING | REVIEWS | CATEGORY | WEBSITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | DASH Carolina Real Estate - RDU | 5 ★ | 3,263 | Real estate agency | YES |
| #2 | Marti Hampton Real Estate | 4.9 ★ | 1,163 | Real estate agency | YES |
| #3 | Raleigh Realty | 5 ★ | 664 | Real estate agent | YES |
| #4 | The Villages at McCullers Walk Apartments | 4.6 ★ | 585 | Apartment complex | YES |
| #5 | Centerview at Crossroads | 4.5 ★ | 441 | Apartment complex | YES |
| #6 | The Villages at Pecan Grove | 4.8 ★ | 348 | Apartment complex | YES |
| #7 | Abberly Grove Apartment Homes | 4.8 ★ | 284 | Apartment rental agency | YES |
| #8 | Olde Towne Residences | 4.6 ★ | 277 | Apartment complex | YES |
| #9 | MAA Hue | 4.5 ★ | 237 | Apartment rental agency | YES |
| #10 | Cortland Glenwood South | 4.6 ★ | 236 | Apartment rental agency | YES |
| #11 | Allister North Hills Apartments | 4.7 ★ | 231 | Apartment complex | YES |
| #12 | The Maggie | 4.4 ★ | 228 | Apartment rental agency | YES |
SRC: Google Maps listings, DataForSEO, Raleigh-Durham metro, Sep 8, 2026. Ranked by review count, which is a proxy for how established a listing is — not a ranking claim.
Branded demand is the clearest read on who has built recall here — searches for a business by name, the volume nobody has to bid for.
SRC: DataForSEO, Raleigh-Durham metro, Sep 8, 2026. Brand searches identified from the tracked keyword set.
People Also Ask questions collected verbatim from Raleigh-Durham real estate results — the literal wording Google is already surfacing.
Can I afford an apartment if I make $2000 a month?
What is the cheapest rent for an apartment?
How much is rent in Raleigh?
What is the cheapest thing to rent to live in?
SRC: Google People Also Ask, DataForSEO, Raleigh-Durham metro, Sep 8, 2026. Questions are reproduced as collected; we do not answer them here.
Everything above is the market. If you want to be in it, start with where you stand today.
Every other vertical we track in this metro, with its monthly search demand.
REAL ESTATE IN OTHER METROS
HOW THIS PAGE IS MADE
Every figure is collected, not estimated. Keyword volume and cost-per-click come from Google Ads via DataForSEO and are twelve-month averages, so neither moves week to week — a weekly delta on either would measure the averaging window, not the market. Map-pack and organic positions are a live SERP read taken Sep 8, 2026. Sections with no data are omitted rather than filled.
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina · Real Estate · 95 keywords · collected Sep 8, 2026