Spring is the best time to sell a home here in Emerald Isle, Carteret, and Onslow counties, so right now, my phone is blowing up with questions like, “Is this the best time to sell? Or is this the best time to buy? Or should I wait?” Most real estate agents will tell you that NOW is always the best time to buy or sell a home. But that’s not true. I prefer to look at the numbers and see what the numbers tell me. With Spring only a month away, now is a GREAT time to look at the numbers. what’s happening in the local real estate markets right now. Today is February 20, 2024, and this quick article is all about what’s happening in local real estate markets in Emerald Isle and other beachfront and soundfront towns and communities in Carteret and Onslow counties.
You want to look at THREE numbers: Average Days on the Market, Price trend, and List: Sale ratio. Stay with me to the end of this article, and you will get the opportunity to request a customized assessment of your home and learn even more about the Carteret and Onslow real estate market. It’s all free with no strings attached. And now, let’s look at the numbers. The first number is Average Days on the Market or DOM. And here’s why days on the market matter to buyers and sellers. I use it with buyers and sellers because the number can set expectations and even justify the price to list or a price to offer, especially in a competitive market like the one here. When I meet with sellers, I use days on the market to set expectations for how long their homes will be on the market. On the island of Bogue Banks, there are four major communities: Emerald Isle, Indian Beach & Salter Path, Pine Knoll Shores, and Atlantic Beach. Only Pine Knoll Shores, with 77, had less than a triple-digit average DOM, meaning that half the homes listed in Pine Knoll Shores were on the market less than 77 days, and half sold in more than 77 days. In Indian Beach and Salter Path, the average DOM was 342, or almost a year! Here, the average DOM is the OPPOSITE on the mainland, where we have the towns of Morehead City, Beaufort, Newport, Cape Carteret, Swansboro, and Jacksonville. Here, only Beaufort has a triple-digit DOM. When my buyer wants to make an offer, days on market will affect the kind of offer we put in based on how long the home's been on the market compared to the average days on market.
The second number is the List-to-sold ratio or sales percentage. This is another number that is a big deal. Across the board, this number is at 95% or higher. It’s a number I use to set expectations for my sellers, and it can set expectations on what kind of offer my buyer puts in. In a competitive market like this, we get this frenzy going on, and we’re trying to write an offer. We want to win the offer, so we’ll bid twenty thousand over the list price or whatever the case may be, and the reality is you may have to overbid, knowing that the list-to-sold ratio is very high. That’s why you need to know this number.
The third number is the Price trend, which is important if you think a market shift is happening. Are prices slowing down? Are we in a bubble? Let’s look at the numbers. You might be surprised. The numbers tell me that the market is slowing down everywhere except Emerald Isle on the island and Newport and Morehead City on the mainland. If I give advice to my customers and clients based on feelings, I may not be the best agent for my clients. If I use numbers, I will confidently tell my client that it’s mid-February, and the pricing trend for Emerald Isle is still going up, so you’re better off buying now than waiting three months from now.
Put your email in the comments below, and I’ll send you a PDF of this chart. If you don’t see a town you are interested in, put your email in the comments below, and I’ll do the analysis for you for free. You can also request my unique comparative marketing analysis of your home in the comments below. I use 50 data points, not three like most agents, to create a price to list your home. I can only do five of these a week, so quickly put your email in the comments below. If you learned something, do me a favor and hit the thumbs up because it always helps with YouTube. Hit the subscribe button; it’s free. And ring the bell for my next video on the types of vacation housing available in Emerald Isle. If you drop an email address in the comments below, I’ll send you my e-book, “Live Where You Vacation.” Be safe and have fun, and I will see you next week. Thank you so much.
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