Hello! Quick Raleigh Housing Market Update I put together so you can stay in the loop. Info pulled off MLS directly.
We are now in that time of year where school has begun and, cyclically, real estate cools down for a little while. This fall is the best time of year to buy a house in *my opinion* because you have less competition and often more leverage than during the heat of summer. More deals to be found that way.
Median Home Price in Wake County is $490,000 for all real estate, up almost 1% from this time last year. Now, let's break that down...
- A median single family home is $570,000
- A median townhome is $377,000
- A median condo is $312,000 (not a fan of these for investing purposes in our market, a whole other discussion)
More quick stats:
- Homes went for asking price, on average this month
- Homes sat about 20 days on market
- Sellers has 10 showings before going pending
- There are about 3,000 homes for sale, which is up 20% over this time last year
What I'm seeing is takes about 2-3 offers on average to get a property under contract (all depends on your aggression and strategy of course, location, etc)
Overall, buyers have a lot more sway than the last few years. More options to choose from, less competition. But just enough that appreciation is still expected to be strong going forward. Nice little sweet spot.
NAR CHANGES Let's address this one. Been having a lot of conversations with clients about this one. And many others have not heard about these changes. Here's the meat:
- Sellers and buyers are encouraged to openly discuss and negotiate commission. This has always been the case, but the industry is taking strides to make it more fluid.
- Investor Sellers can choose to pay some or all of the buyer's agent commission (that's not new) but this can no longer be advertised through the local MLS AND this must go through the seller to the agent versus through the listing agent like it did in the past.
- Investor buyers must be signed with an agent to step foot in listed homes. This is to protect sellers but also to encourage buyers and agents to have necessary conversations about how everything works, before jumping straight to house hunting.
At the end of the day, I believe the industry will adapt quickly, and these changes can be a positive thing for all sides.
Quick Note: Sellers who offer smaller or no buyer agent concessions in an attempt to increase their takeaway risk sitting longer and going for less. I believe the risk of taking away less in our current market to be a concern. That is my logical *opinion* based on my experience of how buyers think and act.
What strategies investors are using here right now: it's no secret we've become an appreciation market over a cashflow market in recent years. And when I talk with other investors, those expectations have to be set. Long term rental comps on average, when you pencil it out, will be at a loss in the $100-500 range in my experience. *if you really valued cashflow you could go further out from RTP at the expense of much lower appreciation*. Increasingly, investors are getting creative and using short term rentals to get upfront cashflow in our market and/or buying the properties that sit far past 20 days and need work. Others are okay with a small net loss for high appreciation and know that a reasonably near future refinance could knock them into the green. Multi-family investing has been super competitive for some time and continues to go way over asking. However, we did see quite a bit pop up this summer and recently I know one investor who overpaid $40k to get a duplex that did in fact cashflow $500/mo after updates (so it's not impossible!).
Keep in mind, data changes constantly. So if you're looking at this at a later time, likely not up to date anymore. Hope this helps!
