May 2022 Real Estate Market on the Outer Banks, NC

OBX Inventory Dips Low for May

Just when you think residential inventory can’t dip any lower, the Outer Banks real estate marketplace tosses out a surprise. It’s been the ongoing saga for more than two years. Inventory is tight in this seller’s market, where buyers engage in bidding wars in a desperate attempt to snag anything that’s available.

The May 2022 MLS Statistical Report from the Outer Banks Association of Realtors® indicates buyers are still opening their pocketbooks as wide as they’ll go, even amid rising interest rates. The national average for a 30-year fixed mortgage was at 5.34 percent in May. Buyers hoping for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages enjoyed a slightly lower interest rate at 4.65 percent.

Sales decline, demand stays high

Another note of interest in the May MLS Statistical Report is that while sales have declined because of a lack of available inventory, the median sales price shot up 26 percent for residential properties and 24 percent for lots and land.

The total unit sales have decreased by 19 percent overall. When broken down by real estate category, commercial property saw the biggest reduction at 28 percent. Residential sales dipped by 22 percent, with lots and land at 9 percent.

Overall inventory is down 12 percent compared with 2021 statistics. However, residential inventory is slowly climbing upward by 3 percent.

OBX by the numbers

Overall low inventory hasn’t hurt the median sales price in any of the Outer Banks’s towns and areas. The highest median sales price based on year-to-date figures was in Duck, which saw a 41 percent spike in value to $915,000.

Here’s how other areas performed:

• Corolla – median sales price up 23 percent to $892,250
• Southern Shores – median sales price up 19 percent to $780,000
• Kitty Hawk – median sales price up 10 percent to $550,000
• Colington – median sales price up 35 percent to $485,000
• Kill Devil Hills – median sales price up 18 percent to $485,000
• Nags Head – median sales price up 28 percent to $799,250
• All Hatteras – median sales price up 19 percent to $621,500
• Roanoke Island – median sales price up 9 percent to $465,000
• Currituck Mainland – median sales price up 16 percent to $385,000
• Ocracoke Island – median sales price up 24 percent to $535,000

Average days on the market also continued to remain low, and figures are nearly half of those seen just one year ago.

National real estate marketplace trends

The increased demand and low inventory in the Outer Banks reflect national real estate marketplace trends, according to the May 2022 Residential Real Estate Trends and Outlook Report from the National Association of Realtors®.

Notes of interest from the report include:

• Cash deals are the highest they’ve been since the period between 2010 and 2012.
• Homeownership rates in the Midwest jumped 70 percent compared with other regions in the U.S., most likely due to the low median home price of $273,800.
• Nationwide inventory is still at historic lows and just keeps falling.
• Pending contracts are falling because of continued low inventory.

As low inventory persists in the OBX and nationwide, the trend toward higher median sales prices is expected to continue into the third quarter of 2022. Increasing mortgage rates may also price some buyers out of the marketplace.