2022 Year in Review: How Did We Do?
2022 has come and gone and we’re now faced with a new year complete with new challenges in the housing market. With the recent significant rise in mortgage rates, affordability is becoming an issue for many prospective buyers. Homeowners looking to get top dollar for their listing must find a way to ensure that their property stands out amongst the rising competition. One proven way to do this is to hire professionals to stage your home before listing.
At Showhomes of Greater Raleigh, we believe the proof is in the pudding, so we rounded up our analytics for 2022 to compare the performance of Showhomes staged homes to the market at large. The results are heavily convincing, showing that our homes beat the local market averages in every category!
Time on Market
Everyone wants their home to sell quickly and staging is proven to help! Last year we saw intense competition among buyers, resulting in homes selling quickly in a fierce sellers’ market. As you can see from the chart above, Showhomes Vacant Staged Homes sold 4.5 days faster than the average home in Wake County. That’s over 30% less time on the market! This time saved became particularly pronounced as winter approached when we saw the general market hit a big slowdown. The MLS reported the average days on the market skyrocketed to 34 days for homes sold in December whereas Showhomes Vacant Staged Homes sold in 10-26 days during November and December.
Sales Price
In addition to a quick sale, sellers want the highest offers. In last year’s hot market, the average Wake County home sold for 102% of the original list price. But Showhomes Vacant Staged Homes sold for an incredible 106.8% of the original list price! Let’s put that into perspective. If your home listed for $500,000 last year, you would have sold, on average, for $510,000. But Showhomes Vacant Staged Homes would have sold, on average for $538,000! That’s an additional $28,000 made from a staging investment.
What’s Coming in 2023
While we don’t have a crystal ball, we do think there are a few trends we expect in the Triangle area real estate market for 2023:
Prices will continue to rise, though less sharply
With Apple’s expansion into the Triangle Region, among many other big-named companies, people have been looking to move into the Triangle Region for work opportunities. This influx of people is continuing to put pressure on the existing low-levels of inventory. However, rising mortgage rates mean affordability is becoming an issue for many would-be buyers. Due to this tug-of-war, we predict housing prices will still continue to rise, but at a slower pace than we saw last year.
Smaller Triangle communities will see expansive growth
The average sales price in Wake County jumped nearly 20% in 2022. That increase, coupled with significantly higher mortgage rates, are creating affordability issues for many prospective buyers. With that, smaller Triangle Region communities have accommodated families that want more space or those who are willing to drive further for lower price points. We see proof of this with the growing percentage of these areas. For example, Rolesville saw a 125% increase and in the past year alone, we saw a 7.8% increase for Angier. Other communities like Zebulon. Fuquay-Varina, Franklinton, and Youngsville are experiencing similar rapid growth. We expect to see this growth to continue throughout the year.
Buyers will Take Their Time
As inventories and prices increase, expect buyers to look at properties with a more critical eye. They want to feel they are getting a good deal and many are likely to wait for that perfect property to come along. Staging is one of the best marketing tools to create demand for a property. By showing the best a home has to offer, buyers can create an emotional connection to the space and become more likely to make an offer. Staging makes your home stand out from the competition and, as we discussed earlier, truly results in higher and quicker offers.
Are you ready to make your home a Showhome? Call us today!