Home sales finished last year with an increase of nearly 13 percent over 2014, according to statistics released Monday by the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors.
The number of units sold increased by 849 in 2015, from 6,555 to 7,404 in a nearly 13 percent jump, as buyers took advantage of historically low interest rates in a market where some price points are in shorter supply. The figure is the highest year-end number for units sold since 2006, WRAR's Multiple Listing Service statistics show.
“We’re gaining ground,” said Don Harris, the 2016 president of WRAR.
He said he expects the direction to continue this year. “Interest rates are still low,” Harris said, noting a recent quote of 4.125 percent.
The rates are forecast to increase a little, possibly by the fourth quarter of this year, he said.
The number of homes on the market increased somewhat from 2014 to last year, up about 3.8 percent. But homes selling at $275,000 or less are harder to find than others, Harris said. Currently, 2,150 single-family homes are for sale in WRAR's MLS covering New Hanover, Pender and northern Brunswick counties, he said, and only 962 of those are priced at $275,000 or below.
“That’s not a big number to choose from,” Harris said.
At the same time, homebuilding activity continues throughout the region. Harris used the example of the 28412 zip code, where projects include townhomes, single-family houses and apartments in addition to new commercial projects. A community that will include 93 patio homes, Heathlands at Echo, is under construction along Independence Boulevard by Hardison Building and American Homesmith. The development falls into a category a lot of buyers are also looking for – homes of more than 2,000 square feet in the upper 200s to mid-300s price range.
“That’s a price point that seems to be very active right now,” Harris said.
Harris said interest rates continue to make buying a home a better value than renting.
“With all the benefits from owning homes, including equity growth and wealth building, it’s a great time to buy a house,” he said. “We tell people it’s time to get off the fence because the rates are wonderful right now.”
Meanwhile, progress continues on The NC Regional MLS, owned by 10 Realtors Associations, including WRAR and the Brunswick County Association of Realtors. The regional MLS signed a contract with FlexMLS, a leading MLS vendor, last year. Harris said the regional effort hopes to have three of the associations -- WRAR, BCAR and the Carteret County Association of Realtors -- online with the new MLS by the end of January with the remaining associations coming online as their extisting MLS provider contracts expire.
The following are the most recent home sales statistics available from WRAR:
2015 year-over-year statistics in New Hanover, Pender, northern Brunswick
| Units sold |
Avg. sales price |
Median price |
Total dollars |
DOM |
New list. |
| 2014: 6,555 |
$240,204 |
$196,844 |
$1,585,541,227 |
126 |
10,416 |
| 2015: 7,404 |
$250,912 |
$204,523 |
$1,867,948,727 |
112 |
10,807 |
| 12.95% |
4.46% |
3.9% |
17.81% |
-11.57% |
3.75% |
December home sales in New Hanover, Pender, northern Brunswick
| Units sold |
Avg. sales price |
Median price |
Total dollars |
DOM |
New list. |
| 2014: 535 |
$247,424 |
$208,750 |
$132,371,789 |
134 |
543 |
| 2015: 608 |
$273,656 |
$215,500 |
$166,383,146 |
111 |
520 |
| 13.64% |
10.6% |
3.23% |
25.69% |
-17.16% |
-4.24% |
