Wake County closing costs
The county-specific transfer tax and deed recording fees for Wake County, North Carolina - the local details that change your total beyond the statewide rate.
- Effective transfer tax
- 0.2%
- ≈ $800 on a $400,000 home
- Typical lender + 3rd-party fees
- $4,782
- median of 15,604 purchase loans · HMDA 2023
Wake County compared with North Carolina counties
In the verified North Carolina county records we have, Wake County's effective transfer-tax rate ranks #1 of 8 by highest rate. At $400,000, the county-specific transfer tax is $800, which is the same as the state-level calculation before city surtaxes.
- County rank
- #1 of 8
- within verified North Carolina county pages
- Tax at $400,000
- $800
- state baseline $800
- HMDA fee sample
- 15,604
- purchase loans in 2023
Wake County transfer-tax data: official source linked on this page, reviewed 2026-Q2.
Transfer tax in Wake County
North Carolina levies a STATE real-estate excise (transfer) tax of $1 per $500 of consideration (= 0.002, equivalently $2 per $1,000) under G.S. 105-228.30, collected by the Wake County Register of Deeds at recording and customarily paid by the seller (grantor); this is a state tax, so there is no separate Wake County-level transfer tax. Wake County is NOT one of the seven NC counties (Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Washington) authorized to add a local land transfer tax. No major city in Wake County (including Raleigh) levies its own real-estate transfer tax. Buyers typically pay recording fees on the deed/deed of trust.
Recording fees in Wake County
Deeds and most instruments: $26 for the first 15 pages, $4 per additional page. Deeds of trust / mortgages: $64 for the first 35 pages, $4 per additional page. Plats/maps: $21 per page (sheet). Nonstandard document surcharge: $25 added if the document fails formatting criteria (paper size, margins, legibility). Certified copies of real estate instruments: $5 first page, $2 each additional page. Wake County uses North Carolina's statewide register-of-deeds fee schedule.
Official recorder: Wake County recorder ↗ — the authoritative source for the current recording fee schedule.
What lenders actually charge in Wake County
Across 15,604 home-purchase mortgages originated in Wake County in 2023, the median total loan costs — lender fees plus third-party services such as appraisal and title, excluding prepaids and escrow — were $4,782, of which about $2,500 was the lender’s own origination charges. That is reported loan-level data from every lender under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act — not a national average — so it reflects what buyers in this county actually paid. Lender fees vary widely, so comparing a few rate quotes is the single biggest lever on your closing total.
Source: FFIEC HMDA Data Browser ↗ (2023 purchase originations, FIPS 37183, ODC-BY 1.0). Median total loan costs exclude prepaids and escrow.
Estimate your Wake County closing costs
Pre-set to North Carolina. County-level taxes above may add to this estimate.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the transfer tax in Wake County?
Wake County (North Carolina): the applicable real-estate transfer tax works out to about 0.2%. North Carolina levies a STATE real-estate excise (transfer) tax of $1 per $500 of consideration (= 0.002, equivalently $2 per $1,000) under G.S. 105-228.30, collected by the Wake County Register of Deeds at recording and customarily paid by the seller (grantor); this is a state tax, so there is no separate Wake County-level transfer tax. Wake County is NOT one of the seven NC counties (Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Washington) authorized to add a local land transfer tax. No major city in Wake County (including Raleigh) levies its own real-estate transfer tax. Buyers typically pay recording fees on the deed/deed of trust.
What are recording fees in Wake County?
Deeds and most instruments: $26 for the first 15 pages, $4 per additional page. Deeds of trust / mortgages: $64 for the first 35 pages, $4 per additional page. Plats/maps: $21 per page (sheet). Nonstandard document surcharge: $25 added if the document fails formatting criteria (paper size, margins, legibility). Certified copies of real estate instruments: $5 first page, $2 each additional page. Wake County uses North Carolina's statewide register-of-deeds fee schedule.
How much are closing costs in Wake County?
Closing costs in Wake County follow North Carolina's structure plus this county's specific transfer-tax and recording fees. Use the calculator below for an estimate; for the exact recording schedule, the county recorder is the authoritative source.
What do lenders charge in fees in Wake County?
In 2023, the median total loan costs — lender fees plus third-party services like appraisal and title, excluding prepaids and escrow — across 15,604 home-purchase mortgages in Wake County were about $4,782, of which roughly $2,500 was the lender's own origination charges. This is reported loan-level data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; actual fees vary by lender, so comparing quotes matters.
Closest North Carolina county comparisons
Sibling links are ordered by nearby verified effective transfer-tax rate, so each county page connects to genuinely comparable counties.