Market booms: Houses under $350,000 in high demand

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Industry experts say the housing market in the Wilmington area is soaring through the roof, but buyers struggle to find homes under $350,000.

“The market is really fast right now. Everything that went up that we liked was pretty much gone within days,” said Nicole Helton, a first-time home buyer.

With houses selling left and right, Helton and her husband say they struggled to find a home under $300,000.

“We’re building houses as fast as we can actually sell them. We’re up about 5% in sales this year from last year, and we’re currently up about 6% in value on home prices since last year,” said Tony Harrington, the owner of The Property Shop International Realty.

When the demand goes up, so does the price. Harrington says they are seeing more and more people move down from the northeast, and a better economy means more buyers.

“I think Wilmington is a melting pot. We’re seeing not only retirees, but we’re seeing a lot of younger people come into town because of our university systems. Because of our theatre. And because of all of our infrastructure that we’re building,” said Harrington.

Harrington says they are working with counties to increase the opportunities for affordable housing, but the need is high. Helton and her husband fell into that popular pool of buyers.

“It made it a little bit more difficult and people moved fast. So, you didn’t have a lot of time to slowly shop around. You had to make a move pretty quickly,” said Helton.

The homes may be going up fast, but buyers are moving even faster. Harrington says he expects this market boom to continue for a little while.