The Real Estate Market is all about “Local, Local, Local”

As an active local Realtor, people constantly ask me “How’s the real estate market?”, but there is not a simple answer.

Just like buying real estate is all about “location, location, location” the real estate market is all about “local, local, local”.  Not only is the national real estate market different from our local one, the Corolla market can be very different from the Nags Head market, and Kill Devil Hills can be very different from Duck.

There also is a hyper-local market within  Nags Head, with the Village at Nags Head sound/golf course homes quite different from the eastside homes, and oceanfront homes are a different market altogether.

Currently there are seventeen homes for sale west of the bypass in The Village. Ten sold in 2014. The market has been considerably more active for the homes between the highways and on the oceanside with 25 sales during the past year. Homes stayed on the market an average of 319 days before selling.  There are currently 24 homes on the market for sale, which is nearly the same number that sold last year.

Conventional wisdom says that a balanced market, one that favors neither buyers nor sellers, is when the number of homes currently for sale equals the number of homes sold in the past six months (or six months of current inventory).

Right now, homes between the highways and on the oceanside in The Village equal 12 months of current inventory, so we have a buyers’market.  This holds prices down, because buyers have many homes from which to choose, and feel no sense of urgency to rush and make a choice.

One happy note for sellers is there was only one foreclosure / bank owned home to sell in 2014, which is considerably less than in the past several years, so sellers are not competing with distressed properties.

For homes west of the bypass in the Village, 10 homes sold in 2014. There are currently 17 homes for sale, which is nearly two years of current inventory.  There was only one distressed property to sell in 2014. Sellers need to price their homes competitively if they wish to sell within a reasonable length of time.

Sellers need not to just surrender to a particular market. They can enlist the help of a Realtor who specializes in the Village at Nags Head and adopt strategies, including pricing, condition, staging, improvements, and particularly marketing to help turn a buyers’ market into a sellers’ market.  It’s the Realtor’s job to help ensure that the home is accurately priced to position the property in the marketplace where it will sell, and will be exposed to every possible buyer. An agent who is attuned to hypermarkets even within The Village can help to sell your home, particularly in a recovering market.

Author – Linda Harper, Resort Realty Broker