Five years after the pandemic ignited North Carolina’s housing market, prices are soaring — Charlotte’s median hit $400,000 in Q1 2025, up 58.2% since 2020. But this demand surge reveals a deeper crisis: Everyday Tar Heels — families, young professionals, and singles — are increasingly locked out.

From a free-market perspective, the culprit isn’t market failure but government overreach. Ubiquitous single-family zoning, lot-size minimums, and excessive codes choke supply, driving costs beyond reach. Here’s the evidence, the stakes, and a liberty-first solution for North Carolina’s policymakers.

Demand soars. Supply stalls

North Carolina’s housing market is a pressure cooker. Single women, often seeking stability for kids (80% of single-parent homes are mom-led, according to the US Census), grabbed 24.71% of Howard Hanna Mortgage’s 2024 loans. Charlotte’s 2.5-month inventory can’t match this appetite. Raleigh’s prices jumped 31.6% since 2021, outpacing the U.S.’s 45.3% rise. Why? A national 7-million-home shortage is hitting North Carolina hard — supply isn’t keeping up.

Regulations: The real price driver

Forget finger-pointing at buyers — government rules are the bottleneck. The John Locke Foundation has long warned of this: Single-family zoning bans multi-unit homes in high-demand areas like SouthPark or Dilworth, forcing sprawl over density. Lot-size minimums — think half-acre mandates in Wake County — slash the number of buildable parcels, hiking land costs.

There are also parking minimums in many areas, which require builder to include a certain number of parking spaces in their plans based on square footage or occupancy. Parking minimums add between $5,000 and $10,000 per unit, while environmental regulations (e.g., tree ordinances) delay permits and inflate expenses.

According to WRAL, since 2019, downzoning in Raleigh’s suburbs has cut housing potential by 20%. Excessive building codes — North Carolina’s 400-page manual — pile on compliance costs, pricing out modest homes. Result? Charlotte’s $400,000 median is a pipe dream for median earners, who make around $56,000 in the region.

Everyday NC families suffer

This isn’t just stats — it’s people. A Raleigh teacher earning $50,000 can’t touch a $450,000 home at 6.63% rates. Monthly payments would top $2,500, half her take-home. In Charlotte, 40% of women-led households rent, while only 28% own. Young men face similar walls, with affordability eroding as rates hover near 7%. Homeownership — key to stable communities — slips away. ResiClub found 54% of owners won’t sell above 5.5% rates, locking in supply further. Legislators, this is your wake-up call: Everyday North Carolinians are priced out.

Deregulation: A free-market lifeline

Slashing regulations can unleash supply and cool prices. Builders could flood the market, easing Charlotte’s 2.5-month crunch and dropping prices.

Start with single-family zoning: legalize duplexes and triplexes in urban cores — Charlotte could add 10,000 units in five years.

Scrap lot-size minimums — smaller plots mean more homes, cheaper land.

Ditch parking minimums — let builders decide; transit-rich areas like uptown don’t need two spaces per unit.

Streamline environmental rules — fast-track permits without sacrificing safety.

Boost accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to add more rental inventory. Legislators could revive the biparistan 2023 NC bill for ADUs, often called “granny flats,” which had bipartisan legs but died.

Gut excessive codes — trim North Carolina’s manual to essentials, potentially cutting costs 15%.

Policy evidence and impact

Data backs this. Texas, with looser zoning, builds 50% more homes yearly than our state, keeping medians at $300,000 vs. Raleigh’s $450,000. Raleigh’s 2015 ADU pilot added 500 units in two years before stalling under red tape. In the state at large, a 20% supply boost could shave $50,000 off Charlotte’s median, lifting ownership rates.

Legislators’ role in NC’s future

This isn’t about favoring one group or another. Homeownership fuels wealth and civic health for all, yet North Carolina’s regulatory thicket — single-family zoning, downzoning, parking rules — blocks it. Policy experts, consider that 66 days average on market and 17% price cuts signal softening. But without supply, this relief is a mirage.

Takeaway: Unleash NC housing

North Carolina’s housing crisis — $400,000 medians, 2.5-month supply — prices out everyday buyers. Deregulate zoning, lot sizes, and codes to unlock homes for all.