The June MLS Statistical Report has been released. At-a-glance, real estate statistics appear to be down compared to the same time in 2022, but there are some very positive outcomes in monthly, monthly year-to-date, and yearly year-to-date. Total inventory increased by 19 units. In addition, statistics show that total inventory has been declining since BEFORE 2007 where it peaked at over 4,000 units available. However, inventory bottomed out in February 2022, plummeting to 694 units. In what can be described as a “seasonal trend”, inventory began to rise drastically until June 2022, where it began to decline similarly to previous years. This trend continued until March 2023 where it bottomed out again, but higher at 759 units. It has predictably increased steadily ever since. It appears that regardless of seasonal trends, overall, inventory is much more stable in 2023 compared to 2022.
All sales are increasing as well. In January only 139 sales were recorded. On a monthly basis, each month has seen a steady increase in sales. In June, we had the highest number of sales recorded at 251 units, compared to May’s 224, and Aprils 215. This trend carried over to residential sales with 192 residential units sold compared to May’s 183. Lots/land did see a decrease in inventory but seems to be following a seasonal trend that is a few months behind all and residential sales.
All and residential median sales prices continued to increase steadily after hitting a low point in February. All sales median price rose over $4,000 to $465,000 in June compared to $461,000 in May year-to-date. While residential median price was also up $53,519 year-to-date compared to May, it was also up $57,738 compared to May on a month-to-month comparison, AND it was up $45,900 year-to-date compared to June 2022. However, on a month-to-month basis, lots/lands have ping-ponged between January through March with median prices increasing or decreasing up to $21,000 compared to the previous month. But it rose $18,250 in April compared to March, and instead of declining, rose another $2,500 in June. Year-to-date it remained steady compared to May, and actually rose $5,000 year-to-date compared to June 2022.
Town to Town Comparison
Here is where the statistics get interesting. Residential year-to-date median sales price increased in almost every town. For the first time since February 2022, Corolla took the lead in year-to-date median sales price AND had the largest increase of $48,500 to $854,500 versus May. However, all Hatteras saw the largest number of sales in the month of June with 31 residential units closing, resulting in a $2,500 increase in residential median price year-to-date compared to May. What is fascinating is that most towns saw an increase in median price, but fewer homes were sold in the month of June versus May. This indicates that the increases were due to higher prices not the number of units sold. That is a very good thing for REALTORS® worrying about inventory.
Worth mentioning is the town of Duck. Duck’s residential median price dropped $95,000 year-to-date compared to May. This is due to what the MLS considers the “Co-Ownership Effect”. 6 of the 14 homes that sold in Duck during June were co-ownerships causing a drastic drop in median pricing, much like what happened in Corolla in May. It is important to note that co-ownerships, though like timeshares in some ways, are not necessarily bad. By purchasing time to stay at a home instead of renting it, the buyer ends up saving money overall, and gains an additional real estate investment for tax purposes. Plus, the owning entity of the property can benefit from rental income on their unused weeks as well as potential appreciation of their real property.
While appearing to show signs of unfavorable outcomes for real estate in June, once you take a look on a month-by-month, real estate is actually showing signs of strength and prosperity in the Outer Banks!
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