By: Diana Matthews, The News Reporter
Recently real estate agent Darian Ransom saw four of his listed houses go under contract within 48 hours from the time they went on the market; two of them were snapped up within 24 hours, he said.
住宅房地产市场是“12年来我见过的最繁忙的市场”,” said Ransom, owner of First Choice Pro Realty. “It’s amazing. Even through COVID-19, it hasn’t slowed down.”
Jackie Ray-Pierce of J. Ray Realty agreed that, if a house is in move-in condition and priced right, “It won’t stay on the market long.如果可售房屋的供应量增加，她和她办公室的经纪人就能卖出更多的房子.
“2020 was a great year,” Ray-Pierce said. “不幸的是，进入2021年，我们的库存非常低.”
雷-皮尔斯说，潜在买家很难找到他们想要的房子. 这可能意味着单身人士或年轻夫妇的第一套住房, a roomier place for a growing family, 一个退休的地方，或者只是在开始一份新工作和找房子的时候租住的地方.
Trey and Carlee Farmer are pictured with their children, Natalie and Jacob, Wednesday morning in front of their new home. Local real estate brokers Darian Ransom, top, and Jackie Ray-Pierce, below, 比如说，在许多方面，对当地住房的需求都超过了供应.
Supply and demand
兰森称目前的情况是卖方市场，至少对于价格低于20万美元的房屋来说是这样. 他认为有几个因素推动了哥伦布县的需求. 来自北方的退休人员正在寻找一个比他们离开的地方“不冷、犯罪率更低”的家, he said. 有些人想住得离海滩或威尔明顿的便利设施比较近, Ransom said, 但如果没有交通拥堵和沿海生活的高成本. 他说，对这些买家来说，“哥伦布县看起来非常有吸引力”.
Ray-Pierce is working with prospective buyers from Ohio, New York, 新泽西和宾夕法尼亚寻找更好的天气和税率. 她说，虽然需求旺盛，但供应却令人失望. “They look here, but there’s nothing new to purchase.”
Columbus County needs more “spec houses, subdivisions, 为没有资格获得补贴住房的人提供不错的出租房屋和公寓,” said Ray-Pierce. 教师等专业人士发现，在他们的价格范围内，有吸引力的选择很少. “Nobody’s building that kind of thing.“建造一些新的公寓或复式公寓”肯定对我们有利,” Ray-Pierce said.
‘Competitive’ market
另一个增加需求的因素是过去一年中处于历史低位的利率, 是什么让买家购买了比他们本来可以购买的更多的平方英尺和面积.
兰森说，“三间卧室，两间浴室”是他收到的最多的要求. 他的等候名单上有很多人希望购买一套相当现代的住宅，面积有几英亩，位于乡村.”
特雷·法默推着他的女儿娜塔莉在他们的新家荡秋千.
外部买家正在与想要从初始住宅搬到更大房子的当地人竞争.
Columbus County natives Carlee Farmer, 25, and her husband, Benjamin “Trey” Farmer, 28, 在8月份找到一套想买的房子之前，我花了两年的时间看了几套房子. She is a nurse and he is a corrections officer. With their second child on the way, they wanted to move from the two-bedroom, 他们在怀特维尔的东威奇街住了七年.
She called the market for larger houses “competitive.她和丈夫看过的几套房子在他们决定是否出价之前就被卖掉了. “我们并不着急，”她说，其他竞标者显然很着急.
But when they visited a four-bedroom, three-bath house on Slippery Log Road, “We knew this was the house for us,” she said, so they made an offer right away. The ranch house’s open floor plan, a spacious master bedroom, 后院的游泳池和离沃尔玛很近的位置赢得了他们的青睐.
Ransom was the listing agent for the Slippery Log Road home, 三个月后，农民们决定让他卖掉他们以前的房子，而不是把它租出去.
怀奇街的房子“是一个很好的开始，而且位置很好，”卡莉·法默(Carlee Farmer)说. “It sold in about a day after three showings.” She called the selling experience “smooth sailing.”
Fewer listings, higher sales price
雷-皮尔斯说，去年该县大部分房产的售价在15万至20万美元之间.
她提供了一份来自该县多重挂牌服务网站的表格，显示该县上个月有74套活跃的住宅挂牌交易(其中24套是新建的), compared to 111 (23 of them new) in January 2020.
2021年1月的平均住宅挂牌价为166美元,270, down from $188,874 a year before, but the average sale price of $190,321 in January 2021 was up from $151,205 a year earlier.
该网站上的图表显示，去年的待售房源数量在4月份达到峰值，随后开始下降，直到夏末才出现一个较小的峰值.
Ray-Pierce称这种模式是典型的“周期性很强”的房地产行业. “Normally things pick up in March and April,” she said. 总体而言，去年的上市价格“波动很小，但相当正常.她的机构在2019年卖出110套房产后，在2020年卖出了112套.
New normal
限制供应从而支撑价格的一个因素是政府. 罗伊·库珀因冠状病毒大流行而暂停止赎，雷-皮尔斯说. Whenever that moratorium is lifted, Ray predicts that, “A lot of houses will hit the market,” and that “will probably push prices down.”
两位代理商都表示，没有对当地销售造成太大影响的一个因素是病毒本身.
Masks, gloves, 消毒剂和洗手液是与公众见面和看房时的日常预防措施.
有时，如果有老年人住在那里，或者家里有人感染了病毒，卖家会限制人们进入他们的房子. 经纪人很高兴知道是否有理由不带潜在买家进入房屋.
根据州长的疫情限制措施，房地产被列为基本业务. “We’ve never shut down,” Ray-Pierce said. When it comes to protecting her staff and their clients, “We’ve been diligent, and we’ve done our part, I think.”