We hope everyone is enjoying their fall. October continued with unseasonably warm weather here on the Outer Banks. Although the number of vacationers and homeowners visiting during the week has decreased, we continue to see many people taking advantage of the weekends here on the beach. We expect to have a good number of people in town Veterans’ Day weekend for the annual Outer Banks Marathon. If you or someone you know is running any of the races we wish you the best of luck and congratulations for accomplishing such a great achievement!
In local news, Dare County will be completing their 90 day appeal period for the new flood maps on November 13. This will impact a large number of homeowners in the upcoming months, but we believe it will be in a positive way. If you would like more information about these changes please visit the http://fris.nc.gov/fris/ webpage.
In real estate news, we noticed a drop in activity the last few weeks of October. Overall showing requests were significantly down from the number of showing in September and early October. Something we’ve noticed occurring is properties going under contract then coming back on the market. We believe the lower amount of inventory is causing buyers to feel pressured into quickly making offers. Because buyers can back out of the contract without any recourse during due diligence, potential buyers can tie up properties for several weeks or even months then back out of the contract without any recourse. It’s a good incentive for buyers, but detrimental for sellers. We hope our local MLS finds a fair balance with this soon.