作者:戴安娜·马修斯，新闻记者
Recently real estate agent Darian Ransom saw four of his listed houses go under contract within 48 hours from the time they went on the market; two of them were snapped up within 24 hours, 他说.
The residential real estate market is “the busiest I’ve seen it in 12 years,兰森说。, First Choice Pro Realty的老板. “这是令人惊异的. 即使在COVID-19期间，它也没有放缓.”
J. 雷·雷蒂同意这一点, 如果房子处于可入住状态且价格合理, “它不会在市场上停留太久.” She and the agents in her office could sell more houses if the supply of available houses were wider.
“2020年是伟大的一年，”雷-皮尔斯说. “Unfortunately we’re going into 2021 with very low inventory.”
Prospective buyers are having a hard time finding the place they want, Ray-Pierce said. That could mean a starter home for a single person or young couple, 一个更宽敞的地方，适合不断壮大的家庭, a place to retire or even just a rental to stay in while starting a new job and looking for a house.
特雷·法默和卡莉·法默夫妇与他们的孩子合影, 娜塔莉和雅各布, 星期三早上在他们的新家门前. 当地房地产经纪人达里安·兰森, 前, 还有杰基·雷-皮尔斯, 下面, say that the demand for local housing is exceeding supply in many categories.
供求关系
Ransom called the current conditions a seller’s market, at least for homes priced less than $200,000. He sees several factors driving up demand in Columbus County. Retirees from the North are looking for a home “where it’s not cold and with lower crime” than the places they’re leaving, 他说. Some want to be fairly close to the beaches or to the amenities of Wilmington, 赎金说, but without the traffic congestion and the higher costs of coastal living. “Columbus County looks very attractive” to those buyers, 他说.
雷-皮尔斯正在与来自俄亥俄州的潜在买家合作, 纽约, New Jersey and Pennsylvania looking for better weather and tax rates. But, while demand is brisk, supply is disappointing, s他说. “他们在这里看了看，但没有什么新东西可买.”
哥伦布县需要更多的“规格房”, 细分, nice rental homes and apartments for people who don’t qualify for subsidized housing,雷-皮尔斯说. Professionals such as teachers find attractive options scarce in their price range. “没有人在建造这种东西.” Getting some new apartments or duplexes built “would definitely be to our advantage,雷-皮尔斯说.
竞争的市场
Another factor increasing demand is historically low interest rates within the past year, which have allowed buyers to purchase more square feet and more acreage than they otherwise would have.
赎金说 that, “Three bedroom, two bath and up” is the most popular request he gets. He has a waiting list of people hoping to buy a fairly modern home that size with a few acres “in a country setting.”
Trey Farmer pushes his daughter, Natalie, in a swing at their new home.
Outside buyers are vying with local people who want to move up from a starter home into a larger place.
哥伦布县的居民卡莉·法默, 25, 还有她的丈夫, 本杰明·“特雷”·法默, 28, looked at a few houses over a two-year period before finding one they wanted to buy in August. 她是一名护士，他是一名狱警. 他们的第二个孩子就要出生了, 他们想从两居室搬出去, one-bath house on East Wyche Street in Whiteville where they had lived for seven years.
她说，大房子的市场“竞争激烈”.” Several of the houses she 还有她的丈夫 looked at got sold before they could decide whether or not to make an offer. “We weren’t in a rush,”她说。, and other bidders apparently were.
但当他们参观一套四居室时, 三间浴室的房子在滑木路上, “我们知道这是我们的房子,”她说。, 所以他们马上开了个价. 牧场别墅的开放式平面图, 宽敞的主卧, a backyard pool and a location convenient to Wal-mart won them over.
Ransom was the listing agent for the Slippery Log Road home, and the Farmers decided three months later to have him sell their former home rather than rent it out.
The Wyche Street house “was a great starter home, and it was in a good location,” Carlee Farmer said. “在放映了三次后，它在大约一天内就卖光了.她称自己的销售经历“一帆风顺”.”
更少的清单, 更高的销售价格
Ray-Pierce said most sales in the county last year were in the $150,000–200,000 range.
She provided a table from the county Multiple Listing Service website showing that there were 74 active residential listings (24 of them new) in the county last month, 而2020年1月为111艘(其中23艘为新船).
2021年1月的平均住宅挂牌价为166美元,270, 从188美元开始,一年前是874, 但平均售价为190美元,2021年1月为321美元，高于151美元,一年前是205.
Graphs on the site showed the number of available listings last year peaking in April and dropping until a smaller peak occurred in late summer.
Ray-Pierce called the pattern typical for the “very cyclical” real estate industry. “通常情况下，情况会在三四月份好转，”她说. Overall, listing prices last year “fluctuated just a hair but were pretty normal.” Her agency sold 112 properties in 2020, after selling 110 in 2019.
新常态。
One factor keeping a lid on supply, and thus propping up prices, is Gov. Roy Cooper’s moratorium on foreclosures due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ray-Pierce said. 只要禁令解除, 雷预测说, “很多房子将进入市场,这“可能会压低价格。.”
One factor that hasn’t hurt local sales much is the virus itself, both agents said.
面具, 手套, disinfectant and hand sanitizer are everyday precautions when meeting the public and showing houses.
Occasionally sellers limit access to their houses if an elderly person lives there or if someone in the household has had the virus. Agents appreciate knowing if there’s a reason not to take prospective buyers into a home.
Real estate has been classified as an essential business under the governor’s pandemic restrictions. “我们从来没有停止过进攻，”雷-皮尔斯说. 在保护她的员工和客户方面, “我们一直很努力, 我们已经尽了自己的责任, 我认为.”