It’s time for our monthly market update. Keep reading to learn what is actually happening in the Wilmington, NC market and surrounding areas. Although this data represents New Hanover County, I looked at the numbers for Brunswick, Pender, and Onslow as well. Those markets are similar.
Inventory did not change much in October, increasing just slightly from 2.34 months in September to 2.4 months in October, so let’s focus on some other numbers this month, sold listings and median sale price.
The graph on the left above shows the number of sold listings in New Hanover County from January of 2018 to October 2023. I went back a little further because I want you to see the trend line. This is a great illustration because it shows you both the natural seasonal swings in the market year after year, as well as the overall trend year over year.
The number of sales climbs in the spring, peaks in June and July, drops a little in August and September (September 2018 was an outlier – Hurricane Florence occurred September 14, 2018), has a smaller peak towards the end of the year, then drops in January before it climbs again. This happens every year and is to be expected.
An interesting fact to note is that our number of sold listings peaked in July of 2020 at 694 and has been on a downward trend since then. October 2023 saw 335 listings sold, while there were 360 sold in October 2022, 489 in October 2021, and 579 in October 2020. That’s a 73% decline for October since 2020! This sharp decline is likely the result of the lack of inventory and highly competitive seller’s market that we have all felt these past few years.
The graph on the right shows the median sale price increasing over time, from $257k back in October 2018 to $441k in October 2023. Ouch! We have all felt that too. What’s driving that is increased demand and a lack of inventory.
For the future, I would expect that we will see that customary drop in January that results from people being focused on the holidays in the two months prior. The question is, what will the overall trend be? No one knows for certain, and things can change. My guess is that it will look similar to 2023 as we begin to stabilize and perhaps shift towards a buyer’s market. Time will tell.
What does this mean to you? People are always buying and selling houses because the decision to move is more than just a financial one. As these trend lines have declined, I have helped more buyers in sellers in 2023 than any other year I’ve been in business. If the time is right for you personally to buy or sell your home, there is a successful way to make that happen?
Questions? Looking for numbers for other areas? Please email me at kim@thecoastalrealestategroup.com.
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