Real Estate in Chapel Hill
An interview with residential specialist Tony Hall Jan., 2007
How would you characterize the real estate market right now in Chapel Hill?
Answer: I would characterize it as stable to slightly going up. I've been a real estate agent for 21 years and its been strong the whole time. Our market is very stable. It doesn't jump up 20 percent a year. Maybe it goes up five percent a year on average, and it just continually, gradually grows.
What is the big draw for people to move to Chapel Hill?
Answer: There are different things that draw people. I see a lot of people who went to school at UNC who move here. Maybe they come here because they find a job here, or maybe they come back because they had a career in another state and they retired here. They have fond memories of going to school here and they want a college town to retire in, with good medical care. We have a lot of people who move to Chapel Hill because of the school district for their kids. The school district is the best in the state so that's a big draw. I think the fact that it is a college town is a big draw because, even though it is a smaller town, it has a lot of cultural things that attract people. We have more diversity in our restaurants and in our culture.
Is Chapel Hill considered a retirement destination? Do the high school taxes turn some retirees away?
Answer: A lot of retirees come here. I recently had a couple who moved here from Connecticut and our taxes were a lot lower than theirs were and it wasn't an issue for them.
Is Chapel Hill real estate more expensive than surrounding counties? Is that a fair assessment?
Answer: It's a fair assessment. Surrounding counties like Durham County, Chatham County, Alamance County are higher. I don't think our prices are any different than prime areas of Raleigh. It depends on what you are comparing it to. If you're comparing it to a nice new subdivision in southwest Durham thats convenient to shopping and Interstate 40, the prices might only be, say, five or 10 percent different. That area is very desirable and higher priced, but if you look at an area that's in downtown Durham thats not as convenient, and maybe has a higher crime rate, then the prices might be very different.
What about mortgage rates? Are they still pretty reasonable?
Answer: They're still pretty reasonable. We've had low rates for the past few years and they're still very good. I can remember when we, as real estate agents, were very excited when they went below 10 percent, so six percent is very good.
What about the future? It seems like supply is getting tight.
Answer: That is definitely the trend. There's not much land available. The northwest quarter is one area where there is land and that's why a lot of new development is being proposed and started out there. We're seeing more infill kind of things. I predict we'll see more people who might buy houses and tear them down because the land is so valuable or they can do different things with the land.
What about Chapel Hill real estate as an investment?
Answer: I think it is a good investment because of the supply. There's not going to be more land. In my 21 years experience, the prices have gradually increased. The town has developed and there's less land and I witnessed it myself when I see my clients who have owned real estate for a long time sell their real estate for a lot more than they paid. I don't know of anyone who loses money when they sell their house, luckily.
Are there sections of town that are more expensive than others?
Answer: A lot of people want to be downtown so they can walk to the downtown shopping, dining, movies, that kind of thing, People have always gravitated towards the downtown area and the campus area. Now we have more options for people than we used to, more places to live. For example, some people say they want to live in Southern Village because they like to walk to the movie theater, the restaurants and the school is there, or Meadowmont, for the same kind of reasons. Southern Village has done extremely well. It has been a huge success. The residential properties have, for the most part, at least doubled since they've been built. And Meadowmont has a very nice location, convenient to Interstate 40 and other parts of the Triangle.
Click here for more of the interview