Durham Real Estate Market

[Greg Bensley]

What does everybody think about the current market status for house flipping in Durham, NC? Median sales price in Durham county hovered right around 400k in March, which is close to 12k over the median sales price for the entire Triangle MLS. Supply has been trending down from 1.9 since October 2022, which has a direct correlation with the median sales price driving up from around 375k at the start of 2023 to where it now lies. DOM is incredibly low at a median of just 3 days. Anybody have any thoughts they'd want to share? Concerns with investing in Durham? I've seen plenty of Durham flip deals get passed on and was wondering why this might be when the market data is incredibly strong

[Pat Lulewicz]

There's generally a difference in asset type in Durham vs Raleigh, especially with most MLS flips in Durham being downtown where the areas are still quickly gentrifying, assets are 70-100+ years old, home size is significantly smaller than suburbs and parking can be challenging. These are all huge factors in both the renovation process as well as the resale market and what the end consumer is looking for. It's "much easier" to flip a 1970s 3/2 ranch w/ 1200 sq ft in S Raleigh or Garner vs a 1930s 2/1 bungalow w/ 720 sq ft and street parking in Durham. Especially when the $/sq ft on comps in Durham will be significantly higher than its competitor in Raleigh. You need more meat on the bone when dealing with older assets and it can be tough to find it and substantiate the work-to-profit ratio.

Flip the conversation (pun intended) and if you find that ranch style product in the Durham "burbs" like around South Point, then its a no-brainer. Too broad of a question to summarize an entire city's investment activity just like it's too broad of a statement to speak on an entire state's outlook in one blanket response.