If one good thing has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic it would be, according to local Realtors, the state of the local housing market.
It’s off the charts.
Nearly a billion dollars in sales from Jan. 1 through Nov. 30.
With more than $994 million to be exact, according to Tom Roberson with the Highlands-Cashiers Board of Realtors. A 48 percent increase over the $509 million in sales posted during the same period in 2019.
“We have done very well in 2020,” Roberson said. “It’s been a very bizarre year. We’ve had a really amazing year. According to my colleagues across the region, there’s just a lot of movement across the Southeast.”
Roberson cited two demographics consistent in the bump of sales this year – Families on the move and the discovery that people, especially young people, can work from anywhere.
“Young families are getting out of the city,” he said. “Older couples, once the kids have left the nest, are doing the same thing.”
Once the lockdown eased-up in June, Roberson said, “People were on the move.”
Local Realtor Michael Cox with Betsy Paul Properties said, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, he has enjoyed a banner season. Homes that have sat for more than 12 months in previous years have sold within a week during the pandemic.
“I’ve been really busy,” Cox said. “Homes in the Highlands-Cashiers area are selling very quickly, many of them sight-unseen.”
Across the board, Real Estate professionals agreed with 2020’s frantic pace.
Highlands Realtor Pat Allen, of Pat Allen Realty Group and a 2021 MLS Director, said the market has been crazy with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve never seen anything like this, even before 2008,” she said. “People want to escape the big city life of protests, congestion and social distancing for small town living.”
Julie Osborn, MLS President for 2020, said sales so for this year have exceeded every year she’s known since moving here seven years ago.
“We have experienced nothing like this,” she said. “We started the year with 12-months-worth of inventory and now it’s down to three.”
Osborn said industry professionals are having fun, but having a hard time keeping up with the demand.
“It’s been very hectic,” she said. “We have 900 homes under contract, but we can’t get the homes inspected or appraised as everyone is so busy.”
Osborn said she spoke with an home inspector recently who said he was booked solid until January.
“We don’t have enough people to keep up with the demand,” she said. “We need tradesmen, attorneys, appraisers and inspectors. We’re short people. We can’t keep up.”
Also, Osborn said, the financing side of the market is very attractive.
“We have people with cash who are financing their homes because money is so cheap right now,” she said.
The market is unbelievably strong, Osborn said.
“Destination markets like Highlands and Cashiers… the second home markets are booming right now,” she said. “This is, by far, the largest year we’ve had in several years. It’s been a wild ride.”
When COVID-19 first hit in early 2020, many in the Real Estate industry were scared and apprehensive about what the summer held in market sales during a pandemic.
John Muir, Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Meadows Mountain Realty in Highlands said it’s been a busy year for him, both personally and professionally.
“It’s definitely a lot stronger market,” Muir said. “We’re definitely seeing a lot of people moving up here due to lifestyle changes. Younger families from other regions and especially large cities are moving into the area. We’re seeing people who have always vacationed here coming back to stay for good.”
Realtors have been riding the wave since COVID-19 restrictions eased up in June and there is no sign of slowing down… at least not yet.
“Typically in the winter we would see a slow-down and we’re not seeing that this year because of the lack of inventory,” Muir said. “We’re seeing houses sell very quickly and be under contract for days instead of months.”
The market though, is getting thin. There isn’t enough inventory, Muir said.
“We have a lot of buyers but not a lot of inventory, especially in the $300-$600 thousand range,” he said.