Rising taxes push longtime residents out of Southeast Raleigh. Local groups push back | Opinion

As gentrification transforms Southeast Raleigh, longtime residents are being pushed out by rising property taxes, but there’s more to it than the dynamics of the real estate market.

The process is being accelerated by tax policies.

As new homes and apartment buildings multiply in this section of the capital city, longtime residents living in older homes are seeing their home values soar and their taxes spike.

Sometimes the increases are based on excessive appraisals and often the homeowners don’t qualify for tax relief or don’t know how to apply for it.

Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell said part of the problem is that state law cuts off income eligibility for property tax relief for the elderly or disabled at too low a level — $37,900. That leaves out many people 65 or older or those who are disabled who would otherwise qualify.

“This is a big problem across the entire county and all populations, but it’s very acute among seniors and I think Southeast Raleigh is getting hit harder than some other areas,” Cowell said.

A coalition of local groups known as the Wake County Property Tax Justice Working Group is pushing to ease the tax burden and help longtime residents stay in their homes. Since 2024, the group has helped more than 750 residents lower their property assessment or gain tax relief, resulting in savings of more than $500,000.

But that savings “is just a drop in the bucket,” said Rob Stephens, who organized a community meeting for the group last week that drew more than 80 people.

Stephens said a review of property tax appraisals in Southeast Raleigh shows that appraisals for some older homes are too high and appraisals for renovated homes and new construction were too low. In effect, he said, longtime residents in modest homes are “subsidizing gentrification.”

With its proximity to downtown and still relatively affordable land, Southeast Raleigh will keep drawing developers, young professionals looking for apartments and homebuyers with higher incomes. But that doesn’t mean its longtime residents have to be pushed out, Stephens said.

“One of the keys to anti-gentrification movements is to convince people that it’s not inevitable,” he said. “This is not the invisible hand of the market. The market has a thumb on it.”

Anthony Pope is a member of Men of Southeast Raleigh, part of the coalition helping longtime residents stay in their homes.

He knows the pressure of rising values and taxes first hand. He owns a home built in 1906 on Swain Street that his late mother bought for $48,000 in 1986. The property tax then was $400. Now the home has a tax value of $530,000 and a tax bill of $4,700.

Pope, 68, managed to get his tax bill reduced by $2,000 by applying for a state “circuit breaker” programs that defers a portion of property taxes for people 65 and older with an income up to $56,850. But he said some residents don’t know how to obtain tax relief. “A lot of these people are elderly and they’re not computer literate,” he said. “They just give up and pay the taxes.”

The displacement of longtime Southeast Raleigh residents could increase even more with the addition of a bus rapid transit (BRT) line slated to run along New Bern Avenue. Some have questioned adding the BRT for that reason, but Cowell said that when it comes to how best to serve the area “certainly the answer is not, ‘Let’s not make any improvements and investments in these communities.’ ”

The city is working with nonprofit groups to repair housing and make it possible to keep people in their homes. It is also pushing to build more affordable housing and to study the ways other cities have limited displacement caused by gentrification.

Raising the state’s income eligibility level for tax relief would help, Cowell said. And the work of nonprofits, community groups and city assistance programs are also making a difference.

But ultimately, the mayor said, it’s hard to offset the economic forces that drive up housing costs.

“We’re one of the fastest-growing cities in one of the fastest-growing counties, so rising property tax values are having an impact on the entire population,” she said.

Cowell noted that she has friends who’ve had to move outside the city and county to find housing they can afford. “This is a broad macroeconomic issue that comes with growth,” she said.

Stephens concedes that reducing the displacement caused by gentrification is a daunting task, but the Wake County Property Tax Working Group is taking it on one home at a time.

Said Stephens, “It’s happening rapidly,” he said, “but it’s never too late to start.”

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@newsobserver.com

This story was originally published October 19, 2025 at 4:30 AM.