In 2022, houses are costing more in Chatham County than in Wake County, but it is because we have a lot of large acreage tracts and new construction. Wake County’s pricing averages are also lower because of townhome sales.
Transcript:
That is an interesting stat. First of all, Wake County has had phenomenal appreciation. It was just a few months ago that they were at $360,000, $370,000 and it made the news just a couple months ago that they crossed $400,000. And then, in a blink of an eye, we were at $420,000. Well, just a couple weeks ago, Wake County’s at $441,000 right now, so it’s just amazing appreciation. Raleigh, Cary, Apex, that whole area, that’s where everybody wants to be. Inside the belt line, we kid around in real estate and we call that the magic kingdom because whatever comes up for sale, that is gone so quick. But one of the differences between Chatham County and Wake County is we don’t have condos for sale in Chatham County. We have some townhomes, but it’s very, very rare.
A significant percentage, compared to Chatham County, of real estate in Wake County are the lower priced. They do have townhomes, they do have condos. We just don’t have those. So ironically, this is where everybody’s moving to because this is where we have the land. Well, new construction costs are through the roof. They are so much more expensive right now. Our average new construction is probably close to $600,000. So we have wake county at 441, but Chatham County, which everybody thinks is out in the boonies, but this is where all the new construction is happening. I mean, you’d be lucky to find a new construction at $600,000. We have resales in Siler City for $200,000.
We have resales in Goldston for $200,000. When we get way far away from south or west of Pittsboro, those homes can be less expensive, but because we’re selling so much new construction right now … And some of the new construction right now is $300 a foot for new construction. When we look at the average priced home that is closing right now, Chatham County is actually higher than Wake County. Doesn’t mean that you can’t find a better deal in Chatham County, and because we have more new construction, the numbers are all over the place. Right now when you look at the averages, Chatham’s higher than Wake, but we still think we can find you better deals in Chatham.