Island Real Estate: Three key takeaways from the June 2022 OBAR Statistical Report

Things are moving right along this summer on the Outer Banks. We’ve had some hot weather lately and a great vacation season so far. One question I hear frequently is “When will the housing market cool off?” It’s all about inventory – as long as we are well below historical inventory levels and demand remains high, there will be pressure on prices to keep on rising.

There were three main takeaways from the June Outer Banks Association of Realtors report.

Inventory is still low

As you can see from the graph above, we are just now recovering enough inventory to be at last year’s level. And the green bars show that we are well behind the levels from 2019, which was our last “normal” year, pre-Covid. We are catching up, but still have to more than double our current inventory level.

Sales volume is slowing down

2021 was a banner year for sales volume (total number of sales) but we are quickly returning to normal volume. A lot of this has to do with interest rates. If you look at sales volume earlier this year before rates were quickly raised, you will see that it was tracking pretty closely with 2021. As long as rates remain high, it will continue to hurt home affordability.

Hatteras Island real estate is doing great

Sales volume is slowing (down 31% vs last year YTD) on Hatteras Island, but prices continue to rise. Homes are selling over twice as fast as they were in 2021, as more buyers become curious about owning a home below the bridge.

If you would like to see the entire report you can view it every month on the OBAR website:
https://www.outerbanksrealtors.com/market-data/

Thanks for reading and enjoy the sunshine!

About the Author: Stephen Smith is an Outer Banks realtor with Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty.  He was recognized in 2021 as one of the top 10% of Coldwell Banker agents worldwide. He has lived on the Outer Banks for nearly 20 years, and met his lovely wife on Hatteras Island. They currently reside in Nags Head with their daughter, but Hatteras Island is still home in many ways.  For questions on the Hatteras or greater OBX real estate market, you can contact Stephen directly at stephen@cbseaside.com or 252-216-9230.  His website is https://www.stephensmithobx.com or you can receive his weekly newsletter by signing up at https://mailchi.mp/43cd4a4bf1a6/obxnewsletter.