Pittsboro Real Estate Broker Eric Andrews discusses Apple coming to North Carolina and how it could impact land and home values in Chatham, Wake and Orange County.
Interviewer: Apple is coming to the triangle.
Speaker 2: I’ve heard.
Interviewer: Is it going to increase home values or land prices or property values?
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well time will tell on that one. I will tell you that sellers are much more aggressive on their prices. I mean, I’ve had two offers this week that weren’t full price offers. One of the properties has been on the market for about 10 months. The other property’s been on the market for about three months and they got decent offers, within 90, 95% of asking price, which on land, that’s a pretty good offer. And both my sellers came back at full price and I’m like, “Really? Why are we coming back at full price?”
Because of Apple. Have you not seen the news? Apple’s coming? Was it 3000 jobs averaging? I don’t know, 180, 185, depending on what you hear. So really, really strong incomes. I mean, I’m sure it’ll have an impact. And that is, and the new construction is much more common in Chatham County than it is in Wake County. They’re not coming to Chatham County, they’re going to Wake County, but I’m sure some of them will live in Chatham County. There are a lot of companies and industry that are already here. There are a lot of people that are already here. There are a lot of people that are moving here.
Interviewer: Do you think Apple coming will affect Chatham Park?
Speaker 2: I think that there are probably some other people that are looking at Chatham Park that, I do think that has a profound influence, for North Carolina, triangle to be the location of the Eastern seaboard Apple base, I think is huge. And I think Chatham Park has a greater capacity to recruit companies that are similar in strength and value.
Interviewer: So you think apple coming to North Carolina could increase home values in Pittsboro?
Speaker 2: I mean, absolutely. I mean, I think, do you think home values in Pittsboro are going to be fine, with or without Apple. I do think I’m excited about it and I’m not downplaying it, but it is a little bit of a drop in a bucket. If we look at these massive, I mean, there’s just so many factors. First of all, North Carolina’s hot, people are loving Raleigh right now. We got the schools, the hospitals, the climate, the low crime rate, the-
Interviewer: And it’s just a nice city.
Speaker 2: It’s a nice city. Right? And we got, we got massive migration from West coast to Northeast or whatever. To me that is more important than Apple saying, “Okay, we’re going to hire 3000 people here and everything.” I think it is the beginning sign of a lot of good things to come. If other companies are going to follow suit, I put all my eggs in this basket. And I think we’re very lucky that people are going to be moving here.
Interviewer: It’s almost a auto store. When there’s an AutoZone, they build O’Reilly’s right beside it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Interviewer: And so will that happen with Apple? Would be-
Speaker 2: I would hope so. I would-
Interviewer: Cool, if you say so.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I mean certainly I think those companies are… There are other companies that are closely related to Apple that will probably follow coattails. I remember I went to a land conference, gosh, 10, 15 years ago. And they were talking about FedEx putting another hub in Greensboro. And they said, “That’s a game changer. That really will have a profound effect on North Carolina.”
I was like, “Well, there’s already a hub in Memphis. What does that mean?” A sub-hub in North Carolina and there were like, “FedEx hub is the equivalent of what the railroad was in the late 19th century or what a highway, an interstate highway was in the 1950s.” The fact that FedEx has decided to have a hub in central North Carolina means that all these other businesses are able to get their products out a lot quicker. So, yeah, I think Google is a phenomenal thing. I think as far as the dial is concerned, I don’t know how much of a click it is, if it is a whole click unto itself. But I think it is a harbinger. I think it is telling us of what other good things are going to come here in the near future.
