Update 3/24/14 Flood Insurance Rates will not be skyrocketing like everyone has been talking about. HR3370 was passed and signed into law thereby ending the Bigert-Waters Act and all the dire consequences. HERE is a copy of the new law.

Welcome to Shore Realty's premier site for all things real estate on the Outer Banks. On this site you can search all of the real estate, homes, condos and land for sale on the Outer Banks beaches. You can narrow down your beach house search to the individual towns and villages across the OBX from Corolla and Duck to Southern Shores and Kitty Hawk including Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills plus Colington, the town of Manteo and all the villages on Hatteras Island. If it is for sale, you can find it here, regardless of whether you are looking for a palace like mansion, a simple beach cottage, an investment rental house or a home to live in.

Everything you need to make an educated home purchase is right here on this site, including articles for sellers and buyers with ideas to help you achieve your goal of Outer Banks home ownership. Call Direct 252-441-3416

Owners

Contemplating selling your property? The real estate market on the Outer Banks is not very friendly to sellers right now but properties are selling and quickly, if priced at market value. If you are interested in finding out the value of your property to see if you should wait or not, then sign up for a FREE CMA. If you are ready to sell, check out the extensive marketing campaign used by Shore Realty to help you sell your property. Shore Realty's level of service is unmatched and even surpasses what the big box brand companies have to offer. Check it out HERE Sometimes smaller is better!

Has the OBX Real Estate Market Reached the Bottom?

Probably!!! The only way to really know for sure if the OBX real estate market has bottomed out is through hind sight. When we see prices start to go back up we will know for sure where the bottom was. It does look like we are at, or near, the bottom of the market right now. If you believe in the old investor adage, buy low sell high, then the next 5 years should be a good time to invest. Those who wait too long will find themselves on the other side of the curve facing rising prices and rising interest rates. How long will be too long?

New 2013 Property Tax Assessments Are Out

What does this mean? Not much really, but it might be a shock to some home buyers when they find out the tax assessment on the house they want to buy is lower than the fair market value is. Likewise, sellers are not going to be happy with finding out their assessments have gone down while their property tax payments have not gone down. Dare & Currituck Counties only assess the real estate tax values every 8 years and the last time was at the height of the real estate boom. So, for the past 8 years the property tax assessments were higher than homes were selling for, which gave buyers a sense of increased value. Now that the property tax assessments have been readjusted, it doesn't look like properties are such a great deal. But, the property tax assessment does not have any bearing on the market value of a property. The tax assessment only influences how much property tax is levied against a property. A low tax assessment can be a good thing.

THE BANKS ARE NOT CLOSED

THE BANKS ARE MAKING LOANS. The banks are making home loans the way they used to and the way they should be making home loans. If you have a down payment, good credit and can afford the mortgage payments, then you can buy whatever you want at incredibly low interest rates. Just make sure the home will appraise because there are a lot of overpriced houses out there that will not appraise.

Sold Statistics

TOTAL SOLD RESIDENTIAL UNITS
Outer Banks NC Association of REALTORS MLS

• 2013 Median Price $299,000 - Total Units Sold 1,295
• 2012 Median Price $312,750 - Total Units Sold 1,324
• 2011 Median Price $280,000 - Total Units Sold 1,181
• 2010 Median Price $310,000 - Total Units Sold 1,299
• 2009 Median Price $295,000 - Total Units Sold 1,120
• 2008 Median Price $335,000 - Total Units Sold 1,043
• 2007 Median Price $365,000 - Total Units Sold 1,226
• 2006 Median Price $395,000 - Total Units Sold 1,235
• 2005 Median Price $427,000 - Total Units Sold 2,082
• 2004 Median Price $386,000 - Total Units Sold 2,348
• 2003 Median Price $325,000 - Total Units Sold 1,952
• 2002 Median Price $290,000 - Total Units Sold 1,971
• 2001 Median Price $205,000 - Total Units Sold 1,648
• 2000 Median Price $185,000 - Total Units Sold 1,498

The 2013 Sold Statistics from the OBX MLS are here. The past year saw a decline in both the median price (-4%) and the number of units sold (-2.5%) on the OBX beaches. It looks like the highs and lows are leveling off and the market is trying to stabilize. In the past 5 years the OBX MLS has been averaging 1,243 sold residential units per year with a high of 1,324 units sold last year and a low of 1,120 units sold in 2009.

When the OBX real estate market was in the process of recovering from the 90's recession, the market saw some years of decline followed by a stabilization period that lasted for 5+- years, before any sign of price increase started to show up. Then the OBX market went through another 5+- years of gradual price increase before we saw the crazy price increases of the 2005 boom. It looks like the market here on the OBX has reached the low plateau before prices start to move up, and it should stay fairly level for some time before we see any noticeable increase in property values. Now, is what is commonly referred to as ' the bottom'. There are some localized areas where the decline is still occurring and then there are areas like Duck, where prices are already going back up.

These sales numbers reflect the residential sales on the Dare & Currituck County beaches. The sales numbers do not included the inland counties serviced by the Outer Banks Association of Realtors. Residential properties include homes, condos and townhouses.

Drive By List of Properties For Sale

The reason that there is so much inventory available on the OBX is because there were a lot of sellers who were waiting for the prices to reach the peak before selling. Once the real estate prices reached the peak in 2005 all of these sellers decided they were ready to sell and have flooded the market. A lot of homes for sale on the Outer Banks are for sale by sellers who don't need to sell and refuse to adjust their price for today's real estate market. In reality they are not for sale.

With enough sellers wanting to sell it means shopping for real estate is a lot easier now than it was in 2005. There are more houses for buyers to choose from which means sellers will have to fix things that they wouldn't fix 2 years ago and buyers can shop for the perfect home without the fear of losing it to someone else. The sellers have to compete for the limited number of buyers.

The difficult part of a real estate transaction used to be getting the financing. Not any more! There is plenty of money being lent to people with good credit but everything has to be just right. Appraisals are getting easier and lender requirements are getting easing up some. For those with the ability to make it happen, now is a good time to start investigating a real estate purchase.

Let us set you up with a map and a list of properties that are for sale and then you can leisurely drive around and see if there is anything that might interest you. It is also a good way to learn the different neighborhoods. After all, the Outer Banks does cover an 80 mile skinny stretch of northeastern NC. Call local 252-441-3416 or toll free 800-647-1868

Plan Your Trip to Meet Your Needs

Summer Real Estate Season

Now that the summer tourist season is here it has become harder to look at homes for sale. Vacation beach houses are likely to have renters in them so the only time they are available to see is between 10am and 2pm on checkout day. more

Spring Real Estate Season

Traditionally, spring is the busiest time of the year for real estate sales on the Outer Banks. Spring is also the time to get your foot in the door and have all of the prepaid rental reservation money refunded to you at closing. more

Fall Real Estate Season

In the fall the sellers have collected all of the summer's rental income. There will be no more rental income until next year and no help paying the bills over the winter. This is when a seller is in their best position to make a deal. more

Winter Real Estate Season

Shopping for real estate is fairly easy in the winter. The hotels and motels are all empty all over the OBX so you can come and go as you please. All of the rental houses are vacant so you can look at them without having to worry about vacationers not letting us in. more

Special Offers

HOME WARRANTY

Check out the advantages of a home warranty.

NEW LISTING NOTIFIER

Receive automatic email updates when new homes come up for sale.

Errors and Omissions Insurance

We have it, does your agent? It is hard to believe some realty companies do not carry Errors & Omissions Insurance. Don't purchase your home or land from an agent who does not have it. This is just one more reason why our clients keep coming back.

1031 REALTY EXCHANGE

Avoid the capital gains tax and the 25% depreciation recapture tax by utilizing the IRS code 1031 Tax Deferred (Starker) Exchange. Swap investment land, condos or homes for any kind of investment property within 6 months. Call Greg at 252-441-3416 for details.

A WORD ABOUT BUYER AGENCY
FREE !

Contrary to what many people think, it DOES NOT COST ANYTHING to have an agent work for you in North Carolina. We get paid by commission from the sale. All of the sellers in the Outer Banks Association of REALTORS MLS have agreed to pay that commission to us, regardless of what company has the property for sale. This is what you can expect:

• We will not make you sign any commitment, long term or short.
• NC Buyer Agency DOES NOT require a contract.
• If you find yourself only looking at houses with your agent’s company’s signs, be careful. Chances are that agent is not working for you.
• We will show you only properties that fit your requirements. There are over 4000 different pieces of real estate for sale on the Outer Banks right now. One of them is just right for you.
• We will use our MLS computer capabilities to search for all of the properties that fit your needs.
• We will provide you with information about the SOLD houses that are comparable to what you are considering. How else can you decide how much to offer?
• We will negotiate on your behalf to get the best possible price.

SELLER INFORMATION

Questions about selling? Don't listen to the doom and gloom stories that are going around. Once you understand how the absorption rate affects sales and see what advertising we provide and where we will put your property on the internet, you will see that now is still a good time for sellers even if you are selling out of state.

Just curious? Sign up to find out Your Home's Value, complimentary of course, or call 252-441-3416 and learn the fair market value of your property.

Helping YOU buy or sell real estate on the Outer Banks (OBX) of NC.

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