The beginning of October had a surprise visit from Tropical Storm Michael. It was almost too good to be true for the Northern Outer Banks to go untouched without any issues from the tropics for 2018. Michael delivered an abrupt surge from the sound that was similar to Irene a few years back. Luckily the storm weakened from its original strength as it approached us from the south, but it still caused a significant amount of issues for properties near the sound. If your property was damaged during the storm please let us know if you need recommendations for any repairs you may need. Our hearts go out to our neighbors down south in Florida.

In local news, our area has rebounded quickly from Michael. Many restaurants and stores are still busy with crowds enjoying the above average temperatures. The mild weather continues to attract weekend tourism. The big event for this month is the Outer Banks Marathon. The OBX Homes Team congratulates any of you participating in any of the events! Thanksgiving week is always a busy one here at the beach so we do expect a pop of activity before the end of this month.

In real estate news, our local market appears to be exceeding the national market. October residential sales showed an increase of 10% from September and have increased for the second straight year. The national home sales have reported a decline in residential sales for the same time frame. Our local MLS reports the active days on market for listings continues to decrease, and now indicates the average to be 118 days.

We have some exciting news about our OBX Home Team’s expansion. Broker Associate Ashley Ladd joined us this fall and we are thrilled to have her on board. Ashley obtained her real estate broker’s license in 2013 and practiced in Raleigh, but decided to move back home to her roots and to be with her family and close to the ocean. Ashley will be the main buyer agent of the OBX Homes Team, helping clients navigate the process of purchasing property on the Outer Banks. If you are in the area, please stop by the Duck office to meet Ashley.

We’ve included the October statistics report for your review, but 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.

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment and decrease our paper output, so if you’d like to help with reducing our paper use, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the 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 with any questions, or if you need anything.

Things are back to normal, and they couldn’t be better after the close call we had with Florence!  The sun has been shining non-stop, and the temperatures are still very summer-like.  With that being said, the beaches are still packed with out of town guests, homeowners,  and locals enjoying the best time of the year here!   The surfing and fishing have been some of the best we’ve seen in long time!   Oh how the fall is like a warm embrace after a long day!

In local news the towns and tourism board have been hosting several events to draw in more visitors to the Outer Banks.  The Duck Jazz Festival, the OBX Bluegrass Festival, the Parade of Homes, and the Outer Banks Seafood Festival have been very successful for bringing in more tourism dollars for our area.  This is always something positive to note when discussing local happenings and real estate.   More tourism equals more prospective home buyers!

In real estate news, things seem to be picking back up after that slight hiccup called Florence.  The OBX Homes Team had numerous request to show properties over the past few weeks and several owners asking about possible sales prices for their properties.   With interest rates steadily climbing and projected to continue we have noticed some more buyers trying to lock down properties before there is another increase.  Overall we are a bit slower than our normal fall season, but we are hoping to rebound and end the year on a better note.

We’ve included the September OBAR statistics report for your review, but 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.  

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment and decrease our paper output, so if you’d like to help with reducing our paper use, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the 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 stop by our office in Duck to say hello if you’re in the area, and as always, please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, or if you need anything. 

The OBX Homes Team

As soon as Labor Day was upon us and the local businesses were ready to enjoy their favorite part of the year,  Hurricane Florence started knocking on our door.    Everyone living or owning homes along the entire North Carolina coast watched the news, trying to figure out the path of this storm.  One day it was  aiming right at us, and the next it was heading south!   The media had made it clear the storm was moving slower than most hurricanes do, and this could cause catastrophic damage by floods and storm surges.  Luckily, Hurricane Florence’s strength weakened and did not impact the northern parts of the Outer Banks like some had predicted.  Our thoughts go out to all our neighbors south of us who were affected.

In real estate news, the last couple of weeks were on pause while everyone waited to see what was happening with the storm.  However, the OBX Homes Team has been answering many emails and phone calls from potential buyers asking to see homes right after the storm.  So we feel confident we will see activity pick up, as usual, as we go into the fall season.

We’ve included the August OBAR statistics report for your review, but if you would like a 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.  

The OBX Homes Team is making an effort to help the environment by decreasing our paper output, so if you’d like to help with this, please send us a current email. We will send you a notification each month to look on our website for the updated owner note and statistics report.  We will continue with owner mailings to those who wish to receive them by mail.

Please stop by our office in Duck to say hello if you’re in the area, and as always, please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, or if you need anything. 

The OBX Homes Team