RALEIGH – A summer report from the national real estate brokerage firm Redfin indicates that the U.S. luxury home market tanked. Further, a second report analyzing August’s numbers hinted that home sales are continuing to look grim. However, North Carolina real estate agents said wealthy buyers are still seeing our state as a viable place to park their cash.
But Jim Allen, the owner and broker-in-charge of the Jim Allen Group, a Triangle-based real estate brokerage firm, told WRAL that Redfin’s report doesn’t capture the full picture.
Contrary to the national report’s conclusions, Allen said he sold more homes than during the Triangle’s annual new construction event known as the Triangle Parade of Homes than the firm had ever sold before. And, said Allen, all of the homes went under contract at or above their asking price.
Dozens of homes in North Hills and Wake Forest that are listed at or above $2 million have been sold or are pending sale by Allen’s firm during the month of September alone, he told WRAL.
7220 Summer Tanager Trl, Raleigh, NC 27614: $2,150,000
Who’s buying?
Many of the buyers are from out-of-state, most notably Apple employees and executives, according to Allen.
In fact, Allen said his firm can’t build luxury homes fast enough to meet demand.
“We don’t have enough executive-level housing that’s ready,” he said. “Homes are selling before it gets to the sheetrock stage.”
Allen said an unfinished luxury home and a model home sold above asking price during the event this fall.
WRAL TechWire reported in 2021 that the economic development projects from Apple, Google, and others might create additional housing market pains, especially for local residents who might be looking to buy a more affordable home.
And while affordability plummeted earlier this year, with mortgage interest rates rising alongside increasing median home sale prices, in recent months, even with mortgage rates now above 7%, the market has moved slightly more affordable, according to a monthly index published by the Triangle Multiple Listing Service, TMLS.
But the Triangle has also seen an increase beyond the core market—the sales data from TMLS shows a huge spike in the number of luxury home sales in 2022 with 24 homes worth more than $3 million sold so far this year. That’s more than the number of homes sold above that $3 million sales price in 2021 and 2020 combined.
One high-end Durham neighborhood, off O’Kelly Chapel Road, stands out due to the fact that its within Chatham County limits and has a much lower property tax rate. While Durham County’s tax rate is $1.279 per $100 of assessed value, Chatham County’s is almost half of that at $0.67 per $100 of assessed value.
7220 Summer Tanager Trl, Raleigh, NC 27614: $2,150,000
Out-of-state buyers coming to NC for the coast, for the mountains
Rebecca Dawson, licensed real estate agent with Full Circle Real Estate Group in Wilmington, believes this is because more people are investing in properties in North Carolina.
“One of the great things about Wilmington is we are unique but also residential. There are people coming for work, coming for beaches, coming from states that might have higher taxes,” she said. “The North Carolina coast still looks like a good value and unique selling point.”
Full Circle Realty: 301 North Channel Drive.
From October 2021 through Friday, her real estate group sold more than 60 homes in Wrightsville Beach at a sale price of at least $1 million. Four of those homes were for more than $5 million.
Buncombe County, in western North Carolina, saw similar sales numbers. From June to the end of August this year, more than 62 homes were sold in the top 5% of the market, which is from $1.3 million to $4.7 million. And those homes weren’t just in Asheville, either, they were all across the county.
Still, agents in North Carolina said that they have noticed luxury homes are taking a longer time to sell than they were during the peak of the housing market’s boom. Dawson said she is still telling sellers to not see this as a bad sign and continue listing their high-end homes.
+++
Editor’s Note: WRAL TechWire reporter Jason Parker, who holds an active, valid real estate license in North Carolina, contributed to this report.
