Buyer or Seller's Market in August 2026?

Have you ever picked up a drink, thinking you were drinking a Pepsi but instead took a sip of tea? Did you spit it out or make a face? You may like the taste of tea, but since you were expecting Pepsi, your mind registered the drink as yuck!

I think this may be a shining example of the current real estate market. The number of homes sold in Craven County so far this year is up 4.2%, and median prices are up 3.89% while we only have a 3.33-month supply of homes. All these numbers would lead one to believe we are in a seller’s market. However, speak with most sellers and real estate agents locally and you will hear stories that feel much more like a buyer’s market.

Real estate has always been a price war and beauty contest. Now more than ever, we are seeing buyers concerned about the age of systems such as roofs, appliances and HVAC while also being critical of homes lacking updates such as fresh paint, newer flooring, or outdated fixtures. With interest rates bouncing from low 6% to around 7%, buyers are hesitant to jump into the market. If a buyer is willing to be in the market, they are more demanding of repairs and concessions. Homes are sitting longer in Craven County as the average days on market are up to 73 days compared to 55 days from this
time last year.

Therefore, a seller must be willing to do what they can to help win the beauty contest. I just had a seller have her house on the market for about 6 weeks. After one price reduction and still no offers, we advised again on having the house painted to tone down some of the colors. Once the painting was completed, the house went under contract within a week.

The price war is the most difficult part of real estate now due to how segmented our market is. I am not going to dive into the segments of the market for this article. Just know what is happening in one neighborhood on one side of town, may not be what is happening in a similar neighborhood in a different part of town. The road construction and the cost of money have splintered our market more than I have ever seen in my 23 years of selling real estate around here. We agents also understand no seller wants to “give” their home away, though some sellers feel they have done that recently to get
their property sold. However, a seller must react to the market since the market always tells on itself.

Fortunately, most property owners have a good equity position in their home, assuming they have owned it for more than 3 years. A lot of homeowners have these amazing 2% and 3% interest rates, making them not want to sell. So far this year we have seen ten fewer homes come to the market as new listings compared to this time last year. Inventory across Craven County has stayed in the lower five
hundred range over the last 12 months for the number of homes on the market.

With median and average prices up for Craven County, why is it so difficult to price homes competitively? The answer is in the details of the property. We agents and anyone who watches the market have seen properties sell for prices we could not believe because of how high they were and prices we could not believe because of how low they were. I have had many conversations this year with appraisers and agents asking how a home sold for the price it sold. At times there are obvious answers to why a house sold for the price it sold for such as no primary suite on the first floor, major repairs needed or the home updated to perfection.

At other times, I am just as baffled as the people calling are because a home is priced right  but sitting on the market asn other homes in the same neighborhood are selling. There is little rhyme or reason without taking a deep dive into the market, which we at the Home Sales Team are happy to do! The key for a seller is to not chase a market and get out in front of it, whatever that requires. For buyers, any property you buy now around Craven County, you will be extremely excited about the price you paid 5 years from now since real estate was never meant to be a short-term investment.

If you would like a breakdown of what your property may be worth, we are happy to assist you in providing a market analysis at no cost or obligation. As a buyer, we are happy to sit down and discuss how we can guide you through this market and help you find the right property for you. This is our job and we love what we do. We look forward to helping you find a home or be the seller that wins the price war and beauty contest.

-Rowland & The Home Sales Team