Stop Window Shopping!!! The NC Real Estate Sale Section is Closing!

Remember those wild and crazy days of the North Carolina real estate market? You know, the ones where you had to write a love letter to the seller, offer your firstborn, and still get outbid by a cash offer from a robot? Ah, the good old days :)

Well, if you've been living under a rock (or maybe just in Wake County proper), the game has changed! For a sweet, brief moment in the counties ringing the Triangle—we're talking Harnett, Johnston, Cumberland, and Southern Wake—buyers had a momentary sigh of relief. It felt like the universe was giving you a coupon for a house: 20% Off Stress and 50% More Negotiation Room!

The Great Pause of 2024-2025.  What Just Happened?

For a while there, it looked like a buyer's market was settling in, like an unwelcome party guest who stays too long.

• Homes Took a Vacation: Days on market stretched out. In places like Johnston and Harnett, homes started selling after 47 to 48 days on average, a significant jump from the "blink and you missed it" days of the past. That's practically an eternity in real estate time. Sellers were starting to look desperate (and offering concessions!).

• The Price Tag Dropped (A Little): In Harnett, Johnston, Cumberland and lower Wake counties, the median sale prices were actually ticking down year-over-year. That’s right, you could buy a home for less than your neighbor paid a year ago! It was a tiny victory, a small, beautiful win for the little guy.

• Inventory is Up: More houses on the market is like a buffet for buyers. You could actually be choosy instead of just being grateful you got a plate!

This is your moment, my friend. This is the time for the shy buyer to transform into a Shark Tank investor and demand things like, you know, a functioning toilet.

Interest Rates and the Ticking Clock

But here's the kicker, the sudden twist in our home-buying movie: the market is on a caffeine rush, and it’s about to sprint back to "Seller-Land."

The culprit? Interest rates.

For months, high rates were acting like a velvet rope, keeping a lot of potential buyers (and sellers who didn't want to lose their low-rate mortgages) on the sidelines. Now, with the rate cuts a few weeks ago and the Federal Reserve hinting potential for more cuts in late October, and some rates beginning to stabilize or even dip, that velvet rope is starting to fray.

Lower interest rates are like catnip to home buyers. Think of the thousands of people who have been sitting in their rentals, hoarding cash, and waiting for the magic number. As soon as those rates consistently drop:

1. Demand goes boom: All those patient, financially-ready buyers who were on a "rate strike" are going to rush back into the market faster than you can say "appraisal gap."

2. The Good Deals Vanish: Say goodbye to asking for new gutters, closing cost credits, or even a five-day inspection period. The bidding wars will return, complete with aggressive escalation clauses and waived contingencies.

3. Prices March Upward: More buyers competing for the same houses means one thing: prices will go up. Economists are already predicting home prices will start to accelerate again once rates hit that "sweet spot."

The Call to Action: Buy Now, Refinance Later

Listen to me, future homeowner in Angier, Clayton, Lillington, Benson or Fayetteville: The window is closing!

Right now, you have a rare and glorious cocktail of market conditions:

• More Leverage: Sellers haven't fully accepted that rates are falling, so they're still willing to negotiate on price and concessions to get the deal done. Use it! Get that new roof!

• More Inventory: You still have choices. You can still tour five homes instead of getting in a fight for the privilege of seeing a dilapidated shack.

• The Refinance Hail Mary: The best strategy right now is Buy the house, date the rate... see Chase's blog Mortgage Matchmaking. Get the deal done while you have negotiating power and a decent selection. If rates drop further in the next year or two (as many expect), you can simply refinance into a lower payment.

If you wait for rates to drop to the magical 5% and the market to be perfect, you'll be competing with a stampede of buyers who had the exact same brilliant idea. You'll save a little on the rate, but you’ll overpay dramatically on the price and end up in a frantic, losing bidding war.

Don't be that person. Call one of great agents at Anthem, lace up your comfortable touring shoes, and act now before the "Buyer's Market" sign is replaced by a flashing, aggressive "Seller's Market—No Exceptions!" sign. Your dream home in the not-quite-downtown-Raleigh counties is waiting, but it won't wait forever!