Home prices in Triangle ‘Opportunity Zones’ keep rising, too

RALEIGH – The prices of single-family homes located in designated Opportunity Zones throughout the Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical areas were more expensive and, generally, rose more in the last few months of 2021 than similar homes in other Opportunity Zones in North Carolina or in the nation, according to Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions.

According to Teta, in the fourth quarter of 2021, there were 19 designated Opportunity Zones in the Raleigh-Cary MSA and one in the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA that experienced “enough fourth-quarter sales data to analyze.” The City of Raleigh website lists 10 such designated zones within city limits.

The proposed Downtown South project would fall within an Opportunity Zone, though Bonner Gaylord, managing director of operations for Kane Realty and a former member of the Raleigh City Council told WRAL TechWire last year that the partners involved in developing the project weren’t “currently pursuing additional investors,” but would seek additional partnerships, that were they to be “connected to the opportunity zone, then we’ll evaluate the opportunity and overall fit for this project and the community.”

The City of Raleigh calls that Opportunity Zone the “Southern Gateway” and released a report in February 2017.

ATTOM released its national report on Opportunity Zones earlier today, and shared data with WRAL TechWire upon request.

An earlier report from ATTOM showed that more North Carolina homeowners that have mortgages secured by real property than ever before are now considered “equity rich,” or the remaining balance on their mortgage loan is less than half of the home’s estimated fair market value.

Homes considered most affordable continue to be in high-demand, as well, and there were 11.3% more homes in this sector of the market sold across the nation than the year before.

Triangle housing market: Demand at ‘all-time high’ but affordability at ‘all-time low’

Triangle outpacing state, nation

18 of those saw prices of at least $200,000 in the fourth quarter, said Teta, and nine saw prices that topped $300,000. Nationally, just 49% of Opportunity Zones saw typical home sale prices above $200,000 in the fourth quarter, compared to the Triangle’s 90%.

According to Teta, the typical values of these single-family homes rose in 13 of the 20 Triangle area Opportunity Zones from the third quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter. 18 of the 20 Opportunity Zones saw home prices rise year-over-year, with typical prices shooting up by at least 20% annually in three-quarters of the measured Opportunity Zones.

Those two metros had 20 Opportunity Zones with enough fourth-quarter sales data to analyze, with 19 in the Raleigh-Cary area and one in the Durham-Chapel Hill. All but two of those 20 had median prices of at least $200,000 in the fourth quarter; nine of them topped $300,000. Typical values rose from the third to the fourth quarter of 2021 in 13 of the 20 (two-thirds) while they went up from the fourth quarter of 2020 to same period last year in 18. Typical prices shot up at least 20 percent annually in 15 of those metro areas, compared to just 46% nationwide, said Teta.

“Statewide, median prices were at least $200,000 in only 43% of North Carolina’s 216 measurable Opportunity Zones,” said Teta. “Prices commonly rose quarterly in 57% and annually in 82%. They spiked at least 20 percent in slightly less than two-thirds, 61%.”