What Can We Expect This Spring in North Carolina Real Estate?
Learn what experts predict for buyers and sellers this season.
We spoke with Charlotte-based realtor Andy Griesinger about the trends he’s seeing in North Carolina’s real estate market. Here’s what the trends indicate, and some sound advice whether you’re looking to buy or sell!
What trends have you seen so far this year?
Competition and demand remain extremely high. Inventory is very small compared to the number of people who would like to buy a home in the Charlotte area. This imbalance means that when homes do come on the market, they sell much more quickly than they might have a few years ago. Even as interest rates rise, demand in North Carolina’s cities remains very strong and the standing inventory rate is even lower than the rate we saw last spring.
What’s driving demand?
Right now, hundreds of people are moving to Charlotte every day. Throughout the state, a main driver is the fact that more companies are opening up headquarters here and moving people out. Corporations like Lowes, Honeywell, Truist and various other large companies are bringing their employees to the Charlotte area.
At this point, many people’s jobs are hybrid, meaning that proximity to the office is important, but so is the living environment itself. Now, in addition to taking commuting time into account, buyers are also looking for home offices and comfortable layouts as they’ll be spending substantial time working from home.
While apartments in downtown areas were the first choice for many young professionals in years past, new flexibility for working from home and shifting mindsets due to past pandemic restrictions have changed priorities for people at every stage of life. Now, many people look to have plenty of their own space for extra time spent at home, while also keeping their location within reach of city amenities.
On top of that demand, big builders are also having a hard time catching up. With material costs high and supply chain issues slowing down every step of the process, the gap between available inventory and demand simply can’t close.
What can we expect to see in spring?
Springtime usually means more transactions. The first few months of the year are always relatively slow, since people don’t like to be bothered around the holidays. Once the weather starts getting nicer and the school year’s end is in sight, families become eager to arrange their next steps before the beginning of the next school year.
On the bright side, the amount of homes hitting the market generally begins to increase in mid-March. In North Carolina, that doesn’t necessarily mean less competition, because buyers become more active at this time as well. While we can expect sales to increase throughout the spring, standing inventory likely will not.
Rising interest rates haven’t done much to slow demand in North Carolina. Rather, a larger percentage of hopeful buyers are now well-qualified. When interest rates were in the twos, some people ended up trying to stretch their budgets in order to get into a home at these low rates, which resulted in offers that weren’t always competitive. Now, less serious buyers are no longer involved in the market to such a degree.
Each year, springtime brings a rise in both inventory and demand. This year is no exception, and qualified buyers abound in the North Carolina market.
What’s your advice for sellers?
Take advantage of this more active season. Although we expect the market to remain strong, as interest rates continue to rise, you may see fewer offers come in on your listing, so go for it as soon as you can.
What’s your advice for buyers?
With interest rates changing so often, it’s important to get pre-approved. Do the math and talk with your lender to make sure you’re comfortable with the monthly payments at your price point. After you’re pre-approved, stay in touch with your agent and your lender and keep an eye on interest rates. That way, you’ll have all the necessary information as you browse listings with your budget in mind.
While prices may eventually come down a bit due to rising interest rates, home values are still rising overall. Don’t wait to buy a home just because prices may eventually dip.
It’s also a good idea to consider the full range of options. Do you really want to lay everything on the line to buy an existing home? A lot of buyers are frustrated with the market and with the powerless feeling that’s so common right now. But buying a home that already exists isn’t the only option—people should also consider building a home.
With homebuilding, the power is back in the hands of the buyer, the competition and months of failed offers are eliminated, and you cut back on that need for constant compromise on the things that matter most to you about your home.
What factors will play a role in future market shifts?
Interest rates will continue to play a role in the real estate market in North Carolina and beyond. However, we don’t expect to see demand die down so much that we end up in a buyer’s market in places like Charlotte. Another large factor impacting demand will be additional companies moving headquarters and employees to North Carolina.
As builders continue to try and catch up with demand, material costs will play a large role. Finally, investor activity is a huge factor to keep an eye on. In Charlotte, we’ve seen an ongoing trend in which anything under $450K that is relatively new will be scooped up quickly by iBuyers or hedge funds, then rented out. This makes it much harder for buyers in this price range to find a home. Especially at this price range, it’s important for buyers to come in quickly and with their strongest possible offer in order to have a good chance at a home.
North Carolina offers great job opportunities, excellent quality of life, and lots of things to do. We don’t expect to see demand slow down much here anytime soon.
If you know homeownership is your next right step but aren’t looking forward to fighting tooth and nail for an existing home, consider building an Atmos home instead. When you work with Atmos, you build the custom home of your dreams seamlessly and simply with our team of experts. Get started today!
