February Local Market Update

Dr Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS®, made the following comments regarding interest rates in this LinkedIn post:
"The Federal Reserve will raise its interest rate this week. It only directly controls the short-term fed funds rate that is not for you nor for me but for the banking system.

The Fed does not directly control mortgage rates. What to expect? The first rate hike in 3 years will not make much of dent to mortgage rate on the day of the announcement or even in the immediate weeks following. The mortgage rates already made an upward move several months ago in the anticipation of it."

​Quote from Carl
"Please note that this is not a HUGE rate hike. Let's keep this in perspective. Rates are still low and there are lots of buyers looking and there is still a low inventory of homes on the market. This supply and demand issue is still affecting the market. The very minimal rate increase, from my perspective, is not affecting the number of buyers on the market."

In Chatham County, there was a 27.5% decrease in new listings in February. The number of closed sales decreased 4.9% between 2021 and 2022. Median sales prices also increased by 36.7 percent. In February, Chatham County median sales price was slightly higher than the median sales price for all MLS listings.

In Durham County, closed sales have decreased 0.4 percent year to date. Median sales price has increased 32.8 percent when compared to February last year, moving from $290,00 to $385,000. Average sales price increased by 23.9% year to date. In February, the Durham County median sales price was much higher compared to the median sales price of all MLS listings.

The number of listings in Orange County has decreased by 19.3 percent, from 311 new listings year to date last year to 251 new listings this year. There was a 0.4 percent increase in closed sales. Additionally, median sales price increased by 29.3 percent, from $327,550 to $423,500. In February, Orange County median sales price were below the median sales price for all MLS listings.

In Wake County, there was a decrease of 21.3 percent in the number of new listings year to date compared to last year. The number of closed sales decreased 12.8 percent. Median sales prices increased by 24.3 percent year to date, rising to $435,000. Compared to the median sales price for all MLS listings, Wake County median sales price were on par for February.

Click here to learn more about the luxury home market by reviewing this report for 2022.