I’m trying to be smart economically, but also get something that won’t cause us problems with low quality. 

In MD we have loss-mitigation laws passed after housing crisis that exposes you to great deal of liability if you contact people 60+ days in default  and offer to buy their homes.

But the basic economics of supply and demand dictate that prices weren't likely to do much but go up for awhile.

Unless this is your dream house and that's what's necessitating the build, not the economics, you should really think twice before executing on this subdivision/new build.

It may not make financial or economic sense, but some people (me) reach a certain asset level and just do not want to deal with debt anymore.   

The appealing aspect here is the ongoing population growth and other economic factors.

I believe Raleigh has favorable macro-economic factors, yet is still semi-affordable compared to other hot markets such as San Diego, Denver, and Seattle. 

Factors to consider include population characteristics, economics, climate, and overall stability.

@Alan F.Every market will react differently depending on the the supply an demand and the economic drivers in that local economy.

More people probably looking in the cheaper/median priced areas as well with inflation kind of hitting peoples wallets more the last year or two.I think updating the units and being more aggressive on price is really all you can do since we obviously aren't in control of the economic factors.