Habitat for Humanity blitz will build Wake County home in seven days

Habitat for Humanity Greater Raleigh is using a seven-day blitz in southeast Raleigh to turn a single lot into a finished home, with builders, tradespeople and volunteers working from frame to finish near Old Poole Road and New Hope Road. The 2026 Home Builders Blitz runs from May 28 through June 5 and is aimed at creating an affordable home for a family that qualifies under Habitat’s homeownership program.

The nonprofit says the blitz has been one of its signature efforts since 2002 and has produced nearly 100 new affordable homes in Wake County and more than 2,000 nationwide. In Wake County, where home prices and rents have pushed ownership out of reach for many working families, the appeal of the blitz is its visibility: framing, roofing, plumbing, drywall and finishing work move quickly enough that neighbors can watch a house come together day by day.

Habitat says the project is part of a much larger local effort. The organization says it has built more than 900 safe, affordable, energy-efficient homes across Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties, and that its program requires applicants to show need, willingness to partner and ability to repay an affordable mortgage. Habitat also says one in four families in Wake and Johnston counties is cost-burdened, and that Wake County faces a shortage of nearly 60,000 housing units affordable to low- and moderate-income families. Raleigh’s 2026-2030 Affordable Housing Plan calls the city’s housing affordability and homelessness conditions urgent, saying population growth has outpaced housing development while development costs have continued to rise.

The blitz has precedent in the same part of the city. In 2024, Habitat built four homes in seven days in Southeast Raleigh near Old Poole Road and New Hope Road, with City of Raleigh inspectors helping keep plumbing, electrical and mechanical work on schedule. Cornerstone Building Brands served as presenting sponsor, and the participating builders included Upton & Co., Triple A Homes, Rock Creek Builders, Sundance Signature Homes, Midtown Custom Homes, Homestead Building Company, McNeill Burbank and Revolution Homes.

Habitat’s neighborhood footprint in southeast Raleigh goes beyond one week of construction. Its Crosstowne community began after the recession, after the organization acquired 55 remaining lots and started building there in 2015. That history underscores the point of the current blitz: it is one house at a time, but it is also part of a longer effort to keep adding ownership opportunities in a county where attainable homes remain scarce.