Has the housing bubble burst on the OBX ??
The days of full price, or higher, offers for homes/cottages/condos on the OBX has come to
an end. Hindsight is always so clear while the future is never much more than a
heavy fog but it is clear, now, that sometime around Spring of 2006 the sellers
market we had ended and buyers started to become harder and harder to find.
Sales dropped off and sellers started to drop their prices, some much sooner
than others. The new home builders were the first to start discounting there
homes and later others with homes for sale realized that they must drop their
asking price or their property would just sit unnoticed on the market. Many
homes have been reduced $50,000 to $100,000 and even more for those big
McMansions of $1-3 million.
About Dec 28, 2006 the phones started to ring again and the unusually warm days we had here in January really brought out the buyers, tourists and owners - it looked like July on the roads with all the people here. Those that have watched the real estate market prices increase year after year were ready to jump into the market when they saw prices fall. Spring is normally the best time to sell to realize the most money for a property and interest is high as buyers sitting on the sideline now realize this might be the time they have waited so long for and which many thought they would never see again. Now is your chance! Interest rates are still low and finding a 6.5% loan is not hard at all. If you need help finding one I will be happy to point you in the right direction (call or email us anytime).
When the weather finally did cool down, in early February, the sales started to slow but that didn't last long. My phone still rings a lot more than it did back in the summer and fall of 2006 and now that home prices have fallen the buyers are swooping in to pick up the deals out there. A typical 4 bedroom house, on the beach road in Nags Head or Kitty Hawk, with a pool and hot tub use to sell in 2004/5 for $750-950k. Now those same homes are listed in the $650-750k range. Since the buyers are buying the sellers have stopped lowering prices, but they will still accept something lower than what they are listed for and the best priced ones are selling fast. As normal, the best ones go first and the others will take longer, if they sell at all because there does not seem to be as many buyers as there are properties for sale so some just will not sell unless the owners reduce the listed price to encourage a buyer to step up and many sellers are just not willing to go any lower than they are now.
We HAVE NOT seen the foreclosures and frantic selling that many predicted, and that does not surprise me at all since most owners here are well financed and the vacation rental income has been excellent for the past several years, and 2007 looks to be an exceptionally good year for vacation rentals.
You can keep track of the local market by visiting one of the many real estate websites where ALL listed property is available to see on the Internet. With these sites you can see what is actually available right now, it is updated daily and will show you ALL listed property, not just one agents or one companies. I have one of these on my website at www.tm52.com/mls.htm that you can use anytime. Enter a price range, location, etc and you can see what is available.
About Dec 28, 2006 the phones started to ring again and the unusually warm days we had here in January really brought out the buyers, tourists and owners - it looked like July on the roads with all the people here. Those that have watched the real estate market prices increase year after year were ready to jump into the market when they saw prices fall. Spring is normally the best time to sell to realize the most money for a property and interest is high as buyers sitting on the sideline now realize this might be the time they have waited so long for and which many thought they would never see again. Now is your chance! Interest rates are still low and finding a 6.5% loan is not hard at all. If you need help finding one I will be happy to point you in the right direction (call or email us anytime).
When the weather finally did cool down, in early February, the sales started to slow but that didn't last long. My phone still rings a lot more than it did back in the summer and fall of 2006 and now that home prices have fallen the buyers are swooping in to pick up the deals out there. A typical 4 bedroom house, on the beach road in Nags Head or Kitty Hawk, with a pool and hot tub use to sell in 2004/5 for $750-950k. Now those same homes are listed in the $650-750k range. Since the buyers are buying the sellers have stopped lowering prices, but they will still accept something lower than what they are listed for and the best priced ones are selling fast. As normal, the best ones go first and the others will take longer, if they sell at all because there does not seem to be as many buyers as there are properties for sale so some just will not sell unless the owners reduce the listed price to encourage a buyer to step up and many sellers are just not willing to go any lower than they are now.
We HAVE NOT seen the foreclosures and frantic selling that many predicted, and that does not surprise me at all since most owners here are well financed and the vacation rental income has been excellent for the past several years, and 2007 looks to be an exceptionally good year for vacation rentals.
You can keep track of the local market by visiting one of the many real estate websites where ALL listed property is available to see on the Internet. With these sites you can see what is actually available right now, it is updated daily and will show you ALL listed property, not just one agents or one companies. I have one of these on my website at www.tm52.com/mls.htm that you can use anytime. Enter a price range, location, etc and you can see what is available.
Tim Moore
Sales Mgr
Sales Mgr
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