Alas, the peak of summer is here, and so it the HEAT!  Most of the country endured record-breaking temperatures for a good portion of July.  We hope you are having a fabulous and relaxing summer while staying cool and hydrated!

In keeping up with Southern Shores’ latest proposal, the town was not able to secure enough votes to pass the proposed ordinance requiring permits to limit the number of events held by individual properties.  The community and several board members made sure to voice their opposition to the ordinance. This is a small victory for Southern Shores’ property owners who do not appreciate having limitations that prevent their property’s being used for such events.

In local news, the long-awaited flood maps for Dare County show signs of a final resolution. “The last word from the state was that the Letter of Final Determination would be issued in August which will put the effective date of the maps in February 2020,” according to Planning Director, Donna Creef. These flood maps are long overdue, and we hope they can adopt and implement them.  The new flood maps for Dare County will remove many properties from “high-risk” flood zones causing a positive impact for the homeowner’s flood insurance costs along with possibly not being required to have it.

In real estate news, the market has continued to cool off as expected.  Even the lower interest rates and higher amount of inventory cannot change the course for this seasonal decline in activity levels.  The summer market on the OBX is about as predictable as the phases of the moon; therefore, we can predict an uptick as soon as fall knocks on our door.

We’ve included the OBAR statistics for July for your review.  If you would like a more tailored report with specific figures for your neighborhood, please let us know.

If you’ve been thinking about selling, we are happy to assist you with a free market analysis of your property.  If you or anyone you know is interested in buying a property, we would love to help find the perfect home on the Outer Banks.

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment and decrease our paper output. If you’d like to help in reducing our paper use, please send us a current email so we can add you to our paperless mailing list. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the updated owner note and statistics report.

We appreciate your effort to help with this and thank you. We will continue with owner mailings to those who wish to receive them by mail.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email us if you have any questions or should you need anything at all.

The OBX Homes Team

We hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend!  The weather along the Outer Banks for the holiday was close to perfect, and both tourists and locals were full of good spirits. The 2019 summer season has officially begun, and the OBX Homes Team would like to wish everyone a great summer season!

April reminded us of why the Wright Brothers came to the Outer Banks to test their aircraft invention.  The winds were strong and consistent, but the sun did come out to warm things up!   The  OBX Homes Team was booked the entire month with showing properties to prospective buyers, helping several clients get their properties under contract, lining up showings with other agents on our listings, and successfully getting seven new houses up and running on the MLS.  The real estate market is flourishing along with the tulips and daffodils this year.

Our annual Twiddy Homeowner’s Day was a great success!  Despite the unfavorable weather, many homeowners and the Twiddy gang enjoyed a great day together!

Phase 2 of the Duck sidewalk project has been moving along. The target completion date for this is for the end of May, which is great news for the summer season!

The town of Nags Head has started their second round of beach nourishment program.  The first nourishment was completed in 2011, and was extremely helpful in saving the beaches and properties close by from many nor’easters and hurricanes that came through in the last few years. We are thankful for our state’s recognizing the need for this as means of protecting our little piece of paradise.

A hot topic along the Outer Banks is occupancy control for rental homes.   For some quick background information, in 2015, North Carolina passed a statewide law that prohibits towns from restricting the number of bedrooms that can be included in a house being built or remodeled. This kept local authorities from being able to control the occupancy levels to some extent.  Towns are now resorting to other ways to prevent people from building rental machines.  Duck recently placed a limit for the square feet of the structure that can be built according to the lot size.  Last month Southern Shores hopped on the train to fight the “no mini hotels” issue, and “settled” on a temporary agreement that limits the septic capacity to 14 people under a new term they refer to as “vacation cottage.”   Placing limitations on how people use properties is a tough subject, one we are paying close attention to since it impacts our real estate clients on all ends.  We will try to keep our clients informed on any upcoming policy changes that could significantly impact property values.

In real estate news, properties for sale continue to come onto the market in greater numbers compared  to the past few years causing current asking prices to be lower.  In previous years the sellers had the advantage of aggressively pricing their homes, and not having much competition.  Recently, however, we’ve  noticed that though properties priced to sell have been moving rather quickly, sellers wanting to “test the waters” and start higher usually results in having to lower prices.  A unique consideration for sellers in our market is the rental income produced by their properties.  As we enter the rental season sellers hold more strongly to their asking prices because that rental income belongs to the buyer after settlement takes place.

We’ve included the OBAR statistics for April for your review, but if you would like a more tailored report with specific figures for your neighborhood, please let us know.

If you’ve been thinking about selling, we are happy to assist you with a free market analysis of your property.  If you or anyone you know is interested in buying a property, we would love to help find the perfect home on the Outer Banks.

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment and decrease our paper output, so if you’d like to help with reducing our paper use, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the updated owner note and statistics report.  We appreciate your effort to help with this and thank you. We will continue with owner mailings to those who wish to receive them by mail.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, or if you need anything.

The OBX Homes Team

Although the calendar shows it as spring, March surprised us with its temperamental weather patterns. Several hours of any given day had warm summer-like weather, and then a front would bring back winter before we could get home from the beach. Let’s hope April brings more consistently warm days.

In local news, the North Carolina Department of Transportation announced they received federal approval for the mid- Currituck bridge in early March! This is some of the biggest and possibly the best news our area has had in quite some time. Talks of the bridge have been joked about for decades by almost everyone who has visited or who lives along the northern areas of the Outer Banks. Even though we still have a long road (or shall we say bridge) ahead of us, this is a huge advancement for the ongoing traffic issue we face during the summer months and weekends during the shoulder seasons. The OBX Homes Team has fielded many inquiries from homeowners and potential buyers asking for details of this project. The bridge is still in very early stages, but you can find more information HERE.

In real estate news, the long-awaited construction of the mid-Currituck bridge could potentially create one of the most positive impacts for all components of real estate along the Outer Banks! Almost every aspect from sales, rentals, and investment properties will benefit directly in response to the new bridge. We haven’t noticed a dramatic change in the market quite yet; however, the month of March was considerably more active. The inventory has been increasing steadily for the past few months causing many active listings to lower their prices, and new listings to come on the market at a less aggressive price. We don’t believe there is anything to be alarmed about. It is just the market trying to balance itself.

We’ve included the OBAR statistics for March for your review, but if you would like a more tailored report with specific figures for your neighborhood, please let us know.

If you’ve been thinking about selling, we are happy to assist you with a free market analysis of your property. If you or anyone you know is interested in buying a property, we would love to help find the perfect home on the Outer Banks.

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment by decreasing our paper output, so if you’d like to help, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the updated owner note and statistics report. We appreciate your effort to help with this and thank you. We will continue with owner mailings to those who wish to receive them by mail.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, or if you need anything.

The OBX Homes Team

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the winter season. The daylight hours are getting longer, and temperatures are beginning to climb. Local owners are getting ready to open their doors for another season. In a few weeks the traffic will pick up with spring breakers, and homeowners coming to take advantage of the beach before the season officially opens.

The spring is a fun time to be on the beach. Locals are coming out of hibernation. The visitors are coming for vacation, and owners are getting their houses ready for the upcoming season.

In local news we are mourning the loss of North Carolina’s congressman Walter Jones who passed away mid-February. Jones was a big advocate of preserving our local resources along the Outer Banks. We certainly hope whoever takes over his seat will continue to follow his passion for looking out for our beaches and wildlife. The election for his replacement will take place July 9 of this year.

In real estate news the current level of activity is higher than the previous few months. The number of buyers requesting information and wanting to see properties was significantly greater in February. We cannot tell for sure if the government shutdown was the only cause for the slower start to the buying season, but things appear to be back on track for a good year for the local market. However, the increase in inventory for several subdivisions means there are more homes listed for sale, and this is creating tougher competition for sellers who wish to sell at higher prices. In addition to the homes listed for sale, the higher number of houses under construction along the Outer Banks will directly affect inventory and possible home sales in the upcoming months

We’ve included the OBAR statistics for February for your review, but if you would like a more tailored report with specific figures for your neighborhood, please let us know. If you’ve been thinking about selling, we are happy to assist you with a free market analysis of your property. If you or anyone you know is interested in buying a property, we would love to help find the perfect home on the Outer Banks. The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment and decrease our paper output, so if you’d like to help with reducing our paper use, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the updated owner note and statistics report. We appreciate your effort to help with this and thank you. We will continue with owner mailings to those who wish to receive them by mail.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, or if you need anything.

Looks like Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather-predicting groundhog, has predicted an early spring so here’s hoping he’s right this time! It sure would be nice to have some warmer temperatures soon.

In local news, the Town of Duck started phase 2 of their sidewalk project which will encompass the west side of Duck Road from Aqua S restaurant north until Resort Realty. In addition to the sidewalk, Duck has planned to add lighted crosswalks at the Waterfront Shops and Dune Road, a dedicated bike path, and landscaping to help with curb appeal and soil retention. This project has a target completion date for May of 2019 and may affect your travel if you live in Duck or plan to visit. Let’s hope the weather cooperates, and keeps the construction moving as planned to prevent any further traffic issues for the upcoming season.

In real estate news, pending home sales (homes/lots under contract) in the country were the lowest in five years for December. In general, the South had a 5% drop in properties going under contract at the end of last year. This is important to point out since contracts typically take about 45 days to turn into a completed home/land sale. This will impact sales for late January into early March. We often mention how our market is seasonal and usually isn’t parallel with the rest of the normal real estate markets, but unfortunately our market appears to be on the same page with this trend for the time being. The biggest culprit was the government shutdown along with its uncertainties. This was exacerbated by higher mortgage rates, and aggressively priced inventory. We anticipate the market’s getting back on track in the upcoming weeks with the government opening back up. The OBX Homes Team had sales over 4 million in January, and we have numerous requests to show properties in February, so we hope this activity will continue for the remainder of our “busy” season.

We’ve included the OBAR statistics for January for your review, but if you would like a more tailored report with specific figures for your neighborhood, please let us know.

If you’ve been thinking about selling, we are happy to assist you with a free market analysis of your property. If you or anyone you know is interested in buying a property, we would love to help find the perfect home on the Outer Banks.

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment and decrease our paper output, so if you’d like to help with reducing our paper use, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the updated owner note and statistics report. We appreciate your effort to help with this and thank you. We will continue with owner mailings to those who wish to receive them by mail.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, or if you need anything.

The OBX Homes Team

Happy 2019!  We hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season and that 2019 is going to be a great year for you!  We are looking forward to what we hope will be a busy and successful year for everyone! We are hopeful the government will come to a resolution, and things will get back on track as normal.

In local news The OBX Homes Team attended the Town of Duck council meeting in December to represent the impact of local real estate concerning new and current owners in the town of Duck.   The proposed ordinance was to limit the square feet permitted for structures built on lots according to the lot size.  The meeting lasted over three hours, and the council voted in favor of limiting the permitted structure size in accordance to their lot size; however, they are working on finding an acceptable scale which they can all agree on.   We will keep a close watch on this and keep you posted with any new updates.

In real estate news, the Outer Banks went on a short hiatus for the holidays.  The number of showings requested, inquiries about listings, and properties being listed were minimal from mid-December until recently.   Just this past week the market came back to life, and both sellers and buyers will benefit.   The interest rate dropped to a four month low, hovering around 4.5% in the beginning of the year, which is great news for buyers who take advantage of the lower rates before they increase, as many predict for 2019.   Sellers, in turn, benefit from these prospective buyers’ desire to lock in lower rates prior to the rental season.

We’ve included the OBAR statistics for December as well as the year end statistics for 2018 for your review, but if you would like a more tailored report with specific figures for your neighborhood, please let us know.  The OBX Homes Team is excited to announce they generated over 20 million in sales for 2018, and we were the top producers for our Duck Office for another year. Thank you to all our great clients who made that happen!

 If you’ve been thinking about selling, we are happy to assist you with a free market analysis of your property.  If you or anyone you know is interested in buying a property, we would love to help find the perfect home on the Outer Banks.

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment and decrease our paper output, so if you’d like to help with reducing our paper use, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the updated owner note and statistics report.  We appreciate your effort to help with this and thank you. We will continue with owner mailings to those who wish to receive them by mail.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, or if you need anything.

The OBX Homes Team