“May . . . it’s full of all the things that make spring and the brighter part of the year so special. Flowers bud, the sun shines, and new seeds are sown into the fabric of our lives. May is awesome.” ―Jenna Danchuk. Is there a more evocative way to describe the month of May? We hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
In local news, our community is preparing for another busy summer season. We’re about as close to “normal” as we were a few years ago. The usual topic of conversation is traffic, which has returned to being the main topic of discussion. Southern Shores held a public meeting at the end of last month to discuss several traffic mitigation techniques to relieve congestion on busy weekends throughout the summer months. Tourists have traditionally used residential streets in the municipality in an attempt to discover a faster path to destinations north. There have been multiple complaints about the “no left turn” regulation implemented in recent years, but as Southern Shores Mayor Elizabeth Morey put it, “There’s no one magic way to make it go away.” Following their recent May meeting, town officials announced that they will file an amicus “friend of the court” brief in support of the Currituck Bridge to demonstrate their public backing for the bridge’s construction. They have until mid-June to file this, and we hope to hear more about the bridge’s progress soon.
In real estate news, many of us are wondering how current world events will affect our own future and investments. The upheaval in Ukraine, ongoing COVID outbreaks, and the Federal Reserve’s repeated threat to raise interest rates all have a significant influence on our local and national economies. In an ideal world, our current market would remain robust. However, we’ve witnessed a significant drop in activity during the last few weeks. With each rate hike, many customers’ purchasing power diminishes, and the fear of missing out on buying a beach property is no longer a motivator for others. To deal with the recent slowdown, we’ve been less aggressive in our market analysis. We’re hoping this is only a brief pause, similar to what we experienced last fall for a few months.
If you’ve been thinking of selling, are looking to purchase, or have friends/family interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out, as we can send a free market analysis for your property and also add prospective buyers to the auto-email notifications for specific types of properties here at the beach. If you’re not able to come visit in person, we offer virtual showings and are more than happy to preview a home for you and send some notes.
We’ve included the OBAR statistics report for April* for your review. If you would like a more tailored report with specific figures for your neighborhood, please let us know, as the report we send contains figures from Corolla south until Nags Head.
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
