At Least One North Carolina Housing Market Remains Hot

Real estate officials across the country complain of slow home sales and falling housing prices. The red hot real estate market cooled considerably in the past year, they claim.

Not in Hickory.

The local residential real estate market remains fairly strong and is improving.

“Our market is actually pretty good,” said Donna Austin, a mortgage broker with Coldwell Banker and president of the Catawba Valley Association of Realtors. “Homes are holding their value.”

Homes are selling at nearly 97 percent of their listed price, she said. That’s during a time when many areas across the country experienced a 10 percent to 20 percent drop.

Other areas are experiencing record foreclosures and a surplus of homes on the market.

In the Hickory, North Carolina housing market, the surplus occurred within the past three or four years.

“Everyone was hearing how great the market was and sellers couldn’t understand why we couldn’t sell their houses,” said Diane Cline of Diane Cline and Associates in Hickory.

“We’re pretty much stabilized now,” she said. “I think it’s about an even playing field right now.”

The market’s strength is felt throughout price ranges, Austin says.

“From a small lot to million dollar homes, I don’t see any noticeable slow down,” she said. “I’m not seeing a real lull in any particular price range.”

Just last week, Austin’s three-person team sold homes with prices of $55,000, $109,000, $239,000, $312,000 and $450,000. Those from all classes, therefore, are applying for a North Carolina mortgage and being approved.

Analysts say the market’s strength comes at a time when more homes are available than ever before.

Dee Blackwell and Taylor Dellinger, mortgage loan analysts with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments, estimate about 10,000 homes are for sale now, more than ever before.

“The strong market says a lot about what quality of life issues means for this area,” Dellinger said. “I think many people find this area very attractive to live in.”

Kevin Spencer, owner of Realty Executives in Hickory, believes that number is hugely inflated. But he acknowledges many homes are on the market “though not more than we should have given the population growth,” he says.

Major development to come?
If there isn’t a surplus now, there could be in the future. A study performed by the WPCOG found 24 potential major housing developments in Catawba County with more than 6,000 potential lots.

River Oaks, located on Lake Norman, just north of the town of Catawba, will contain 2,000 home sites; Key Harbor in northern Sherrills Ford is second in number, with 1,400 planned units.

Austin and Spencer are confident the market can handle the influx.

Much of the development will cater to out-of-the-region people, whether it’s Charlotte housing market commuters looking for housing in southeastern Catawba County or northern retirees looking to settle in the foothills.

Spencer says a significant portion of his business is “tweeners” - retirees from the north who are leaving the Florida housing market due to hurricanes or to be closer to family.

“They love the accessibility to the mountains,” he said. “Those people also have money and they are buying nice houses.”

But Blackwell and Dellinger say the development will at least create many questions, such as what occurs in 15 or 20 years when retiring baby boomers begin to die off.

“We’ll have this huge surplus of housing,” Blackwell said. “And who will be able to afford the housing?”

SOURCE: The Hickory Record