We are seeing more positives than negatives….
Over the last 3-4 months we are seeing more positive than negative articles on the local and national housing market and on real estate in general. Locally we are seeing an increase in primary residence home sales under the 300K range and on investor-based inquiries for over $1M range. Although we are seeing increase in inquires across the board; there is still a very large inventory in the 300k- $1M range. Our new construction inquiries have increased from 2-3 per week in the past 12 months to about 5-7 per week in the past two months. We’ve had several inquiries from large investor groups that want to build multiple investment properties and institutions that are ready to build-out stagnant developments in order to take advantage of lower supply cost and labor costs. Whether or not the bottom is here, we are experiencing a slight decrease in our ability to negotiate good deals for clients which may indicate an upward pressure on longer term pricing. Clients are once again excited about investing!
We work with many financial planners, and they are once again recommending blending some real estate components into their client’s investor portfolios. The significant increase in inquiries certainly suggests that investors are considering real estate purchases for long-term investment returns. Recent talks and developments on the mid-Currituck bridge state construction should begin early in 2010 with completion targeted in 2013. A true economic recovery for the Outer Banks is derived by the confidence of our tourists in selecting us as their vacation destination and the place where they wish to purchase or build a second home or vacation rental investment property. We fully believe the completion of the bridge, ease in traffic flow and our rebounding economy will make the Outer Banks a prime investment area within the next 3-5 years. Visit www.homesbysaga.com to see our project gallery of newly constructed investment homes built in the past 18 months.
