Real estate broker talks about housing market expectations in 2023

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Wilmington’s population is growing fast and the real estate market is trying to keep up.

Whether it be a rental property or buying a home, real estate experts say that the 2023 market is expected to slow down compared to 2022. According to Drew Pittman, a broker with Intracoastal Realty, he says that’s not a bad thing.

“Real estate is local, you have to take that with consideration as to what your market is doing. And Wilmington’s a special, special place. And I think, you know, the secret’s out on Wilmington, now, and everybody wants to be here. And we have been able to create some more inventory for those people, whether it be rentals or housing to purchase,” Pittman said. “Nationally, we will see some higher percentages as far as the drops, but we don’t intend to see anything dramatic here in Wilmington, per se. So, [higher mortgage rates are] causing them to stay where they’re at, which means less inventory, which then in turn becomes another issue for the buyers because they’re not finding the homes, they won’t. So it’s sort of a vicious cycle right now. And we’re in an unusual situation.”

Last year was a seller’s market but now the tides are changing. Demand for properties is increasing, but the supply isn’t quite there, and that’s partially due to mortgage rates.

“We have seen such a high increase in rates, rental rates so quickly, that it did drive more people to the housing market.

But then, on the flip side of that, we have had such a lack of inventory, mainly going back all the way to 2008. Because builders were not building for so many years. We didn’t keep up with, you know, the population growth. And especially here in Wilmington, we really slow down but we only have a certain amount of area that we can go to build homes that and so that lack of supply with increased demand of buyers wanting to either no longer rent or moved to this area as a destination,” Pittman said. “There’s still good demand for purchasing a home in our area, especially people with destination have Wilmington, in their mind to get here, you know, from whatever part of the country they’re coming from, even if that’s from Raleigh, or Charlotte, you know, a lot of people want to get down to the beach.”

Pittman says if you are in the market to buy a home right now, you should first find out what you qualify for financially because the market is changing so fast.

“With the rates increasing as quickly as they did, you had people who perhaps qualified for a home that was in their standards, and then coming back 30 days later and finding out that perhaps they no longer qualify for that mortgage,” Pittman said. “So, I think it’s kind of put a pause into the market that perhaps a lot of us might think was needed for us to kind of catch our breath. And, you know, it’s been a very wild ride for the last couple of years for us. But as far as the buyers, I think it’s made them maybe think twice about, you know, what their price point is, and what can they actually afford.”

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