Longtime real estate agents say the Cumberland County housing market is “unbelievable” and “crazy.”
The numbers reflect their views.
In June 2020, the median price of all homes sold in the past 12 months in Cumberland County was $150,000, according to Longleaf Pine Realtors Association Multiple Listing Service data. The price increased to $ 173,000 a year later and $ 195,000 in June of this year. Those rates represent a 15.3% increase from 2020 to 2021 and a 12.7% increase the following year.
Statistics show that the number of homes sold increased from 5,737 in 2020 to 6,394 in 2021 and 7,321 in 2022, representing an increase of 11.5% from 2020 to 2021 and 14.5% the following year.
The average time it took to sell a home fell from 25 days in 2020 to six days in 2021, a 76% drop. Time held this year.
“It’s been a crazy two years,” said Melissa McKinney, president-elect of the association.
McKinney, owner of Everything Pines Partners Fayetteville Real Estate, said agents have received about 40 offers on one home this year. She said properties anywhere in Cumberland County will sell as long as they are properly appraised and the condition is worth the price.
David Evans, affiliated with Floyd Properties and Main Street Realty, said the combination of low interest rates and low inventory has created an “unbelievable market” in the area.
“The Cumberland County market was the hottest anyone alive has seen,” he said.
McKinney said that as of Thursday morning, 500 homes in Cumberland County were for sale. She said more than twice as many had sold or were under contract to sell in the past 30 days.
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“You can see that all of Cumberland County is hot,” she said.
Homebuyers may look at different parts of the county depending on whether they have school-age children or are retired, McKinney said. Some may choose a location based on proximity to Fort Bragg, she said.
“It really depends on the wants and needs of the buyer,” she said.
McKinney said buyers often pay sellers a “caution fee,” which goes to the seller and is nonrefundable. Instead, the seller agrees to take the home off the market for a certain period of time while the buyer decides whether to buy the home subject to an inspection and other factors.
A few years ago, the due diligence amount might have been $100 or $200, McKinney said. Now, that amount is usually at least $5,000 and can be as much as $20,000, she said.
“We’re seeing a lot of money,” she said.
McKinney said the situation has frustrated some young buyers with military connections who want to buy a home but don’t have that much money to risk.
Evans said new homes are being built in the county, but not many are priced at $300,000 or less because construction costs are expensive. He said that the value of some existing properties may go down because they have increased so much.
“I don’t see any reason for a crash because I don’t see us being covered, especially at 300k and below,” he said.
Local news editor Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com.
