March didn’t come in like a lion or go out like a lion, it was a lion. Shortly after our last homeowner note, things escalated rather quickly. Unfortunately, not with the positive outlook of being able to contain the pandemic. North Carolina was one of the earlier states to establish the Stay at Home policy. In addition to the statewide orders, Dare and Currituck County implemented their “Stay Home-Stay Healthy” policy that prohibited anyone other than non-local ID holders to enter the county. Many property owners with second homes or investment homes have been turned away at the bridges and prevented from being able to enter, which was considered unfair to many. Both sides of the argument can be understood, and we respectfully hope if you were affected by this policy that you understand everyone has been impacted greatly from this event. We know these are trying times for everyone, and we cannot wait for this to be over and get back to normal. With that being said, we send our well wishes out to all of you and hope you stay healthy and safe. Please know we will continue servicing our clients as best as possible and are evolving our business practice to better serve you and keep everyone healthy.
In local news, the entire beach has come to a standstill. Almost all of the local businesses aside from those deemed essential have shut their doors and have no date set for reopening. The Outer Banks has been strong before when facing hardships, and we know once this is over everyone will get back to work with smiles on their faces and stories to tell. Overall the sense of community has been amazing! Together we will continue to do our best to keep the OBX a place we cherish and treasure.
Before the Coronavirus hit last month, the local real estate market was on course to post a record number of sales for 2020. The March Statistics report appears to continue on the same schedule; however, we can almost guarantee April and May will be the big indicators of how much our market was impacted. This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the “prime” real estate season, but is there ever a good time for a pandemic to hit? There is a chance for a last-minute uptick late spring if this turns around quickly and the bridges open back up. It is worth noting that, the OBX Homes Team has still had requests for showings, and inquiries on our listings during this time. One of the benefits we offer that is especially helpful now more than ever is the virtual tours we do for each listing with the Matterport camera. We have noticed more buyers using this tool, which we believe will help with making the listings stand out in the upcoming months. Please feel free to ask any questions or request a demonstration of a house we have done this for on a previous listing.
We’ve included the OBAR statistics for March* 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. Please note we are more than happy to preview homes for anyone, and we can video call from a property if that is of interest to you.
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 an email each month with a copy of our 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.
Stay safe and stay healthy,
The OBX Homes Team
