January Market Update

Last year was an interesting year in the world of real estate for Craven County! In processing

the data, one could say the real estate market was great last year, while others could paint a

picture of the market being terrible. I have been in real estate locally since 2003. I have seen

good markets, bad markets and almost everything in between. Overall, the market of 2023, in

my opinion, was a good market and buyers and sellers should be excited for the 2024 market as

well!

The market of 2023 was a time of normalization after the feeding frenzy of the pandemic.

During the pandemic, we saw a record number of sales, record price increases and the lowest

number of days on the market. I would argue that the pandemic market was unhealthy for the

overall economy but that is a discussion for a different article. In 2023 there were 1,685

residential properties sold in Craven County which was down 27.2% from 2022. With so many

homes sold during the pandemic years at historically the lowest interest rates ever, the market

had to slow down. Interest rates have doubled over the last 18 months and kept homeowners in

their home instead of selling or made buyers step away from trying to buy a home. Locally,

demand is still outpacing the supply of homes with only 385 homes for sale in Craven County.

This is good for sellers if they are pricing their home properly since real estate is still a price war

and beauty contest for sellers. The supply of homes in Craven County is still less than two

months for the year. Most economists will tell you between a 5–7-month supply of homes is

considered a normal market. It will likely be a long time before we see a normal

market….whatever normal is!

Throughout Craven County, we saw prices continuing to rise, though the increase was less than

we have seen in the previous couple of years. The average sales price went up 8.68%, from

$285,344 in 2022 to $310,098 in 2023. The median sales price went up 11.69% from $265,000

to $295,990 year over year. For everyone waiting for interest rates to come down, will you really

save any money paying over $25,000 more on average for the property? As Craven County

grows, prices will likely continue to follow which is why now is still a wonderful time to buy.

Once a person buys a home, the price they paid for their home will never change. However, a

homeowner can refinance their mortgage and change their interest rate to lower their payment.

Currently we have 203 homes under contract. A lot of people are still finding the right homes at

the right price. With the average days on the market now being 35 days, which is up from 26

days last year, buyers do have a bit more time to make the right decision for them. Though it is

worth noting that 50% of all homes sold in Craven County this year sold in 12 days or less. We

are seeing less multiple offers and longer days on the market, but to put it in perspective, the

median days on the market 10 years ago was 146 days, or 12 times of what it is now.

I believe 2024 will be another wonderful year in Craven County for our local real estate market,

though it will get interesting. This will be my sixth presidential election year I have been through

as a Realtor. I mention that because election years always have had an impact on the real

estate market. Typically, 4-8 weeks prior to the election, the market slows down. However, I

also believe there will be economic factors that make this election year better than most. The

Federal Reserve, who controls monetary policy, has come out and said they will be lowering

interest rates this year. For buyers that have been sitting on the fence about buying this is good

news. For sellers, lower interest rates are likely better news. As interest rates fall, even more

buyers will come back into the market. This will cause demand to go higher, which usually

means prices will go higher. For the past 18 months, I have been trying to inform people to go

ahead and purchase a home now and refinance when rates go down. Once rates go down and

more buyers are back in the market, we will likely see the number of days on the market go

down and the number of multiple offers increase. The positive is that lower interest rates can

make payments more affordable. As stated earlier, will you save money with a lower interest

rate if buyers are again having to pay over asking price for homes that have already gone up in

price? As rates go down throughout the year, this may also spur sellers to sell their homes to

move on to their next home which may help with inventory levels. I often have conversations

with people who would not mind moving, but they do not want to give up their great 2-3%

interest rates. We are expecting rates to go down, however we do not expect to see rates as

low as the 2-3% range again. Financial advisors I talk to regularly and economist that I read,

rates should settle around the upper 5% range which would mean VA loans would be in the low-

mid 5% range. The lower interest rates will be a positive for the market.

In 2024, Craven County will continue to grow, which is evident with the Interstate 42 project.

Cherry Point is bringing more Marines with the F-35s and has hundreds of well-paying civilian

jobs they are hiring for as well. Bosch and other industries are hiring also, and of course we will

see more restaurants coming to town. As more people are moving to the area, there will be

more demand for housing. More apartments are being built to help with the influx of people.

As the price of housing rises, the cost of rent will continue to rise also. I believe prices will

continue to rise because the basics of economic growth are supply and demand. We still have

a low supply of homes, even with all the new construction locally. We are also seeing demand

still strong and growing as our area has been even more discovered for people to retire here

and people coming to work here. As current residents of Craven County, we are lucky to live

where we live, and we should all try to grow with our community. Happy New Year and let me

know how I can help with your future real estate goals!