Thankful on the Outer Banks

This month's update is pretty bland compared to some of the things happening in recent months.  There are no insurance rate hikes, no damaging Hurricanes, no bridge news…only good news this month!

While a good portion of our beaches were damaged during Sandy, we still remain extremely fortunate not to have received a direct hit.  As is typical on the Outer Banks, most everything is cleaned up and businesses affected are back up and running.  We do tend to recover from these things pretty quickly and that has certainly been the case with Sandy as well. 

Since we have been through this so many times, it was an interesting change to see the 2 HUGE trucks of supplies that our Outer Banks locals sent to New Jersey to help out Sandy victims in that region.  Even though we are a small community, when we come together we accomplish big things.  I hope if you were affected by Sandy your situation is on the mend or fully recovered.

On to the news in the marketplace.  Sales activity for 2012 is up so far this year 21%.  Land sales lead the way with the biggest improvement.  Inventory is down 4% so far this year.  This is a move in the right direction…more is needed.  

The most popular selling price range is still $200K to $299K.  However, surprising enough so far 50 homes sold in the $1M or more price range, with an average time on market of 186 days!  That's definitely good news.

Distress activity remains the same.  There does seem to be a small decline in foreclosure filings when looking at the data over the last several months.  The biggest challenge with distress properties is that the median sales price for them DROPPED 22% this year so far.  When these homes become your competition, that means a drop in price for regular sales as well, albeit generally not as big a drop.

One last tidbit…I was informed this morning that our Property Management Department is coming off one of the best seasons in history!  If you know of anyone needing a new management company, certainly give me a call!

If I can provide you with any additional specific market data, please be sure to let me know.

Have a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving celebration.