March 2020 Sales Numbers Are In

I pray that all of you are safe and well. We're going through an unprecedented time in our lives and we must stay strong through it all. In the midst of this adventure real estate sales are still strong, at least through March. Activity so far this April has been steady. Face to face showings have obviously slowed. Real estate is considered an essential business here in North Carolina so we've been busy with video previews of property.

OVERALL: March still was strong despite the extenuating circumstances. Home sales typically take 45 to 60 days to close, so it’s not surprising. My friends in residential sales tell me they are still showing and selling houses despite the complications. Total sales were up $9.3MM over March 2019 which represents a 13% gain. Overall, year-to-date sales are up 40% over last year.

HOMES: The average price per square foot (ppsf) increased to $186.50 from $172.97 in February – this is abnormal for this time of the year as the ppsf usually goes down through the winter.

LOT SALES stayed the same – 77 sales but the average price per acre improved to a more normal $20,447 per acre. It will be interesting to see how lot and land sales go in April.

RAW LAND SALES remained steady at 890 acres sold for an average of $5,417.84 per acre. This is up from $5,183.59 in January.

HIGH-END RESORT LAND (HERL) moved into a more normal mode for the winter with 8 sales and $940,000 in dollar volume. This category is usually considerably slower in the winter.

COMMERCIAL had a strong month with 12 sales for $12.6MM. $7MM came from apartment sales. There are projects that will remain in the works which could substantially improve our commercial market this year.

Foreclosure/REO Sales are still low with only 3 foreclosure sales (one house, one condo, one mobile home). This is good news and indicates a stronger seller’s market and interest rates remain low allowing more people to buy or refinance.