Hatteras Island Real Estate Blog

When studying real estate market indicators it is easy to research and report the statistics.  It is much harder to try to understand and interpret the data that we are seeing.  The 1^st Quarter of this year is a classic example of this challenge. Here are the raw numbers comparing the first three months of 2009 with the corresponding period in 2008.

HATTERAS ISLAND MARKET INDICATORS 1^ST Qtr 2009 VS 1^ST Qtr 2008

At first glance, this looks pretty bad doesn’t it?  All major market indicators are down. In fact, there are number of positive stories contained within this data.  On the residential side, supply and demand appear to have stabilized. However, the gap between supply and demand, combined with an infusion of foreclosed properties into the equation, has caused selling prices to decline. This, in turn, has caused the dollar value (volume) of sales to decrease.  What is not shown in these figures is that the number of residential properties under contract has risen steadily for the past five months to the highest level since the August 2007, as savvy buyers have been quick to recognize great deals when they see them.

Another story that the unfiltered data does not reveal is that the luxury home market ($700,000 and up) has been severely impacted by factors in the lending environment. The highest residential sale price reported on Hatteras Island during the 1^st Quarter was $645,000!

Concerning the market for unimproved lots on the island, there is no way to get around it – this market was virtually non-existent between January and March. Just three home sites were sold during  the 1^st Quarter, and prices dropped precipitously. These results were a function of both the seasonal nature of lot sales as well as financing constraints.

When you take all of the facts and trends into account, my sense is that we are currently witnessing one of the truly great opportunities to buy real estate on Hatteras Island. And, this is good news for sellers because when buyers realize the benefits of purchasing now, inventories of properties will decline, and prices will once again begin to rise.

If you or someone you know has an interest in taking advantage of the current favorable conditions, please contact us at hranicka@hatterasisland.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 10:22 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.