The New Bern Real Estate Market year to date

New Bern Home Sales for the 1st Quarter
Tyson Group Realtors-Steve & Jana J.

Let’s take a look at home sales in New Bern, Craven County during the first quarter and compare that with home sales from the last 4 years.  January 1-March 31.

  2014=210 

 2013=234

 2012=201

 2011=215

It looks like we are down about 10% from last year but up a little from 2012. I am not concerned that home sales were down from last year because I believe the bad winter we experienced could account for most or even all of that. Trust me, people do not like to look for a house in freezing weather. On the positive side, the average sales price was up and average days on the market was down.

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Now lets see how many of the total sales were Bank Owned during the first quarter.

I like the fact that this number has declined, however, as you can see, we are not out of the woods yet. In an earlier blog I predicted that bank owned sales would be down this year. My prediction was based on the fact that bank owned sales were so high last year they had nowhere to go but down. Before the housing meltdown, a 5% foreclosure rate was considered high,  To see significant improvement in the real estate market I believe we will have to get back to that number again. We have a long way to go as the number of foreclosures have been as high as 23% of total home sales in recent years. But. we are moving in the right direction.

CLICK For a list of Foreclosed Homes 

How are New Home Sales?

 

New home sales are down year to date. This is not a surprise to me as I predicted new home sales would be down a little this year. Look for new home sales to pick up a little later in the year. Why? I am starting to work with more retirees asking about building instead of buying an existing home. 

They are building a new product in Carolina Colours and are marketing it for around $200,000. This is a great deal to be in a quality golfing community. I believe this product will be very attractive to retirees who in recent years are looking for smaller, newer, homes in the $200,000-$225,000 range. I hear a lot of good things about Carolina Colours from the residents there and believe things are looking bright there.

 To See New Homes/New Construction Available for Sale

OK, lets sum up the 1st quarter home sales. Not bad, still not where we all would like to see it. At least it is not heading downward like it did for some years. We are seeing more retirees than we have seen in the last 7 years and they are coming from a much more diverse geography than before. New Bern is certainly on the radar as a  retirement destination as there have been many articles written about New Bern in retirement and boating magazines. The local economy seems to be plugging along and we are starting to see National Chains moving into the area as with the recent announcement of the upcoming Panera Pread and Chipolte Grill to be located in front of Books a Million.

We encourage you to  Download
The Tyson Group’s Super Handy Real Estate App which allows you to have a map-based search that pulls up property details when you drive up to a home for sale. Scan the code below and/or Text
KW2HMCM8Q to 87778 to download the App.

If you have any questions about the real estate market or home values, please contact Steve Tyson at 252-514-9157. And, if you want to browse real estate in this area utilizing a system that is directly linked to our local MLS. Go to our site www.TysonGroup.Info where you can set up an account to receive property alerts as new homes come on the market. Thius is a great toold for buying and it can be used by sellers to watch the market and compare the value of their homes.

Until Next Time,

Steve Tyson