Read This! Before Buying Outer Banks Real Estate

Hey, if you want to buy a vacation or permanent home along the Outer Banks, do not do this without understanding the unique trends of the coastal real estate market. Welcome to another episode of Emerald Isle Vacation Home Specialist. I am your host, Denis Raczkowski and I’m going to show you guys what’s happening in the Carteret and Onslow counties real estate market right now, in December 2022. Because I am a real estate professional, people greet me with “Is this a good time to sell?” rather than with “hi.” A lot of agents will lie to you and tell you it's always the right time to sell but that’s not true. I prefer to look at the numbers and see what the numbers tell me. There are a lot of numbers in real estate and in the coastal real estate market along the Southern Outer Banks numbers and trends are always changing. If you are not careful, you’ll find yourself in the weeds wondering whether to buy or sell. So, I whittled that number down to three, three numbers that you absolutely need to know. The numbers are Price Trend, Average Days on the Market, and List-to-Sale ratio. Before I review these three numbers with you, please subscribe to my video channel now, or at the end of this episode.

Ok, let’s look at the numbers. Starting with price trends, the numbers for the fourth quarter of 2022 for residential homes in Carteret and Onslow counties are rather mixed. Prices are trending lower in the coastal communities of Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores and Morehead City in Carteret County and in Swansboro and Jacksonville in Onslow County. Prices trending downward is a key dynamic of a buyer’s market, a sign that this is a good time to make a purchase. However, prices are going up and inventory is low, two signs of a seller’s market, in Emerald Isle, Indian Beach and Salter Path, 2nd home or vacation coastal communities on Bogue Banks. On the mainland, in Beaufort and Newport prices also are trending upward. So, the key to price trends here along the southern Outer Banks is location, location location.

Let’s look at the second number, average days on the market. In every coastal community in Carteret county, days on the market exceed 50 days, from a low of 52 days in Emerald Isle to a high of 148 days in Atlantic Beach. These numbers indicate a buyers market. In the two largest communities I follow in Onslow County, Jacksonville and the Swansboro/Hubert communities, the days on market average is 31. Although quite a bit lower, still, these numbers also are indicating a buyer’s market.

The third number we need to look at is the List-to-Sale ratio. This number exceeded 75% in every community in both Carteret and Onslow counties. It is especially noteworthy that in the beach communities of Emerald Isle, Indian Beach and Salter Path on Bogue Banks, the number was at or exceeded 100%. In Beaufort, on the mainland, the number, 96.54, also was very high. When the list-to-sale ratio number is lower, this can indicate a surplus of homes for sale which points to a buyer’s market. And, in a strong buyer’s market, this surplus inventory gives buyers the leverage to bid sellers down from their asking prices. And, indeed, in the communities where prices are trending lower, such as Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores and Morehead City, the list-to-sale ratio is lower, too. In contrast, in Emerald Isle, Indian Beach and Beaufort, where the prices are trending upward, so is the list-to-sale ratio. These high numbers reflect the ongoing shortage of homes for sale. Indeed, Emerald Isle and Indian Beach have a total of only 41 active listings. Contrast that with Jacksonville which has 277 active listings. All of this indicates high buyer demand that is causing strong competition and high offers for homes, a classic seller’s market.

I don’t know where you are in the buying or selling of a home. But, if you have been thinking of selling your home, wondering if it is the correct time, there is one number that you will need to know and that number is what your house would go for today. To get you that number, I am offering a full 50 house CMA or comparative market analysis. This is not the ordinary two or three house CMA every other agent will do. This is a 50 house CMA that normally costs $500. I’ll do it at no cost to you, no strings attached. This report will tell you exactly what you will net if you list your house today or in the next 6 months. Click the link in the comments to request your 50 house CMA. I only have time to do five of these this week, so you better act fast. Here is the link:

https://emeraldislehomesforsale.onehomesearch.site/cma

I want to make a couple of additional observations about today’s real estate market along the southern Outer Banks. If you are a buyer, there are benefits even with a 7% mortgage interest rate. First, there is no more panic buying, settling for what’s not under contract. Second, there is more choice. Houses are staying on the market longer so you can visit more options. And third, there is no need to worry about a 30 year fixed mortgage. My advice to you is “Buy and REFI.” Mortgage rates are only going to go down by the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. For sellers, you can’t focus on timing the market. No one can time the market. Recall what you paid for your house, not what you could have gotten for it back at the height of the market this summer. Request my complimentary 50 house CMA and discover your current rate of return. If you are like most of my clients, that rate of return exceeds the rate of return in the stock market. To learn more about real estate trends along the Crystal Coast, please go to my website, www.EmeraldIsleHomesforSaleNC.com and sign up for my blog. Ready to buy or sell? Call me at 919-308-2292. Explore the video tab for my weekly uploads to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and receive free donuts at my Flip Flops Donut shop. Text your email address to 919-308-2292 and subscribe to my newsletter. My book, "Live Where You Vacation" is available on Amazon.com or at Kindle.