Sellers Market driving
KM home prices up, up, up
By Loretta Cozart
The median sales price for single-family homes in Kings Mountain has risen an astonishing 40.8% in the last 12 months. With the opening of the casino, many speculate the reason for the increase in home costs happened because of the announcement. Chris Jolly, licensed NC Realtor® and owner of Jolly Realty Group, suggests the reason has less to do with the casino and more to do with a lack of inventory.
Looking at MLS listings for July 2018, Kings Mountain had 194 properties available for purchase. In July 2019, there were only 161 properties listed. By 2020, 151 were offered, and as of August 15, there are just 140 residential listings. Of those 140 properties, only 28 aren’t already under contract.** If you were to need a house now in Kings Mountain, you would have less than 30 houses from which to choose. Jolly explains, “We have a very hot seller’s market right now with historically low interest rates creating very strong and competitive buyer activity.”
A lot of that activity comes from homeowners who look to take advantage of the increase in positive equity from the sale of their home and use that to upgrade their homes with little, or in some cases no increase, in their monthly payment due to the lower cost of lending.
A supply and demand issue are created when sellers are hesitant to list their home for sale for fear of selling their house before they have found the home that suits their needs. These shoppers are checking for new listings daily, and when the right one comes on the market, they make an offer with the intention of selling their current residence to qualify for a new mortgage.
When a buyer offers this way, most feel the need to make their offers as strong as possible in hopes that the seller chooses them. You see increases in purchase price, due diligence fees, etc. “When this happens for an extended period, real estate agents can see the trends, we have sold/closed comparable properties and value listings with the most up to date information available, which reflects the current trends of the market,” Jolly shared.
“While low inventory supply has affected many markets across the country, there are a couple different factors that I believe are driving people to Kings Mountain, specifically.”
“Affordability is becoming a major concern for a lot of cities and counties in our area. Even with the recent increase in values, Kings Mountain is still an affordable place to live. We are seeing situations where homeowners are frustrated with congestion from the high rate of development in cities like Charlotte and Belmont. A lot of those people find Kings Mountain and realize its
affordable, with great access to I-85 and Highway 74,” said Jolly.
“Another large factor into the rise of interest in Kings Mountain is due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With an incredible amount of people now working remotely, it’s easier
than ever for families to move a little further away from their physical office, and we are seeing a lot of people from Charlotte, who now work from home, looking for homes in our area. As lockdowns and mandates started happening last year, I think it influenced people to seek out less congested areas to live,” he said.
“Lastly, I believe this city is finally seeing the fruits of its labor. Major downtown revitalization continues, and our Special Events department has done an incredible job getting Kings Mountain ‘on the map’, through the many events, concerts, and Christmas festivities it’s hosted over the last few years. We are seeing more people come into Kings Mountain than ever before.”
Jolly concludes, “Once they see how many boxes the city checks for them, it’s just really hard to say no to Kings Mountain right now.”
Important note to readers - Jolly states that each individual property is unique, and that values will vary with each property. Please contact a local, licensed NC Realtor® for a proper and thorough home valuation.
**Data compiled from CanopyMLS©. Information accurate as of August 15, 2021.
The median sales price for single-family homes in Kings Mountain has risen an astonishing 40.8% in the last 12 months. With the opening of the casino, many speculate the reason for the increase in home costs happened because of the announcement. Chris Jolly, licensed NC Realtor® and owner of Jolly Realty Group, suggests the reason has less to do with the casino and more to do with a lack of inventory.
Looking at MLS listings for July 2018, Kings Mountain had 194 properties available for purchase. In July 2019, there were only 161 properties listed. By 2020, 151 were offered, and as of August 15, there are just 140 residential listings. Of those 140 properties, only 28 aren’t already under contract.** If you were to need a house now in Kings Mountain, you would have less than 30 houses from which to choose. Jolly explains, “We have a very hot seller’s market right now with historically low interest rates creating very strong and competitive buyer activity.”
A lot of that activity comes from homeowners who look to take advantage of the increase in positive equity from the sale of their home and use that to upgrade their homes with little, or in some cases no increase, in their monthly payment due to the lower cost of lending.
A supply and demand issue are created when sellers are hesitant to list their home for sale for fear of selling their house before they have found the home that suits their needs. These shoppers are checking for new listings daily, and when the right one comes on the market, they make an offer with the intention of selling their current residence to qualify for a new mortgage.
When a buyer offers this way, most feel the need to make their offers as strong as possible in hopes that the seller chooses them. You see increases in purchase price, due diligence fees, etc. “When this happens for an extended period, real estate agents can see the trends, we have sold/closed comparable properties and value listings with the most up to date information available, which reflects the current trends of the market,” Jolly shared.
“While low inventory supply has affected many markets across the country, there are a couple different factors that I believe are driving people to Kings Mountain, specifically.”
“Affordability is becoming a major concern for a lot of cities and counties in our area. Even with the recent increase in values, Kings Mountain is still an affordable place to live. We are seeing situations where homeowners are frustrated with congestion from the high rate of development in cities like Charlotte and Belmont. A lot of those people find Kings Mountain and realize its
affordable, with great access to I-85 and Highway 74,” said Jolly.
“Another large factor into the rise of interest in Kings Mountain is due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With an incredible amount of people now working remotely, it’s easier
than ever for families to move a little further away from their physical office, and we are seeing a lot of people from Charlotte, who now work from home, looking for homes in our area. As lockdowns and mandates started happening last year, I think it influenced people to seek out less congested areas to live,” he said.
“Lastly, I believe this city is finally seeing the fruits of its labor. Major downtown revitalization continues, and our Special Events department has done an incredible job getting Kings Mountain ‘on the map’, through the many events, concerts, and Christmas festivities it’s hosted over the last few years. We are seeing more people come into Kings Mountain than ever before.”
Jolly concludes, “Once they see how many boxes the city checks for them, it’s just really hard to say no to Kings Mountain right now.”
Important note to readers - Jolly states that each individual property is unique, and that values will vary with each property. Please contact a local, licensed NC Realtor® for a proper and thorough home valuation.
**Data compiled from CanopyMLS©. Information accurate as of August 15, 2021.