Analyzing the North Carolina Housing Market: Is Now the Time to Sell?
Building supply shortages and high demand for real estate has created a lack of inventory in the North Carolina housing market. Meanwhile an influx has driven up prices in what has proven to be a strong seller’s market. The team at Swift Homes can’t remember the last time we saw a home market as hot as North Carolina’s is right now. We’ve experienced weeks in which realtors in the state had over a hundred showings. It has also become a common occurrence to see people put their house on the market and receive multiple offers.
One of the most unexpected effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been its impact on housing across the United States. As touched on above, factory shutdowns and severe supply chain disruptions have drastically limited building material availability and caused prices to skyrocket. According to a May survey we analyzed from the National Association of Home Builders and the Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, some 90-percent of builders reported insufficient supplies of framing lumber, plywood and oriented strand board. 87-percent reported a shortage of windows and doors.
These material shortcomings and delays have driven up the price of many new home building projects. A corresponding shortage of available housing, coupled with high demand, equates to a scorching seller’s market with homes remaining available for a short period only and often selling for more than the asking price.
What is Driving the Demand?
While the pandemic has certainly had an impact, the current North Carolina real estate market is also the product of other factors that have emerged over time. There hasn’t been enough housing across North Carolina in recent years, and not enough homes were built during the recession. As such, it’s going to take a long time to build up enough homes to meet the unyielding demand.
Additionally, the growing popularity of North Carolina as a relocation destination has led to an overabundance of real estate activity. Cities like Charlotte and Raleigh routinely show up on lists such as the U.S. News and World Report’s Best Places to Live, ranking number 6 and number 11, respectively, for 2021. While those lists can sometimes be considered arbitrary, data from moving companies we’ve looked at seems to give them credence.
Swift Homes Real Estate Facts: According to United Van Lines’ 2020 National Migration Study, Wilmington ranked number 1 for inbound moves among U.S. cities, with the Charlotte-Gastonia metro region coming in at number 13 and the Greensboro-Winston-Salem area at number 25. North Carolina ranked number 6 among the top states for inbound moves, according to the study, with a similar study conducted by Atlas ranking North Carolina at number 2 for inbound moves.
Rumors concerning companies like Apple and Google moving operations to “the Triangle” in NC have been driving up housing costs in markets where affordable housing is already limited.
Sell Your North Carolina Home with Swift Homes
The consensus among North Carolina realtors is that now is a great time to sell. The ongoing inventory crisis is making the market frustrating for buyers, but great for those with property to part with. Popular real estate markets in the state now include Jacksonville, Fayetteville, Greensboro and Greenville, and the National Association of Realtors expects the housing inventory to improve by fall.
If you’re looking to sell your North Carolina home as-is for top value, Swift Homes is here to work with you. Contact us today to learn more.