The January 2023 statistical report has been posted. There is no sugar-coating it. Real estate was off to a slow start in January 2023 compared to January 2022. All property sales were down 51% to 139 units sold in January 2023 versus 285 in January 2022. This continues the downward trend that happened after 2021.
Residential year-to-date sales were down 56% to 100 units sold versus the 225 in January of 2022. Lots/land unit sales saw a decrease of 34% to 37 compared to this time last year. Towns across the board saw a decrease in residential sales, with some not having any recorded sales. There was also a significant increase in residential days on market in January 2023 compared to this time last year from 43-63 days.
However, despite the downturn, there are still several positive outcomes that are worth mentioning-especially to your clients. All inventory is up which means that sellers have more to look at with 808 units available versus 731 in January of 2022. While this could be an indicator that we are getting close to turning into a buyers market, the fact that the medium sale price for residential was up over $7,300 last month compared to 2022.
Lot's land median sales price was up 14% compared to this time last year which is $15,250 more. Plus, Lots/land units had a decrease of 91 days on market compared to January 2022. Plus, distressed sales and inventory decreased to 0 in January 2023 versus January 2022.
In addition, while under contract listings in January 2023 were down compared to January 2022, they still saw a 31% increase compared to December 2022. This might indicate that February will hopefully see significant increases in sales and median sales prices.
Town to Town Comparison
At first glance, the towns saw significant decreases in residential sales compared to January 2022, with some not having a single closing on record. However, Duck's residential median price was up 10% to $990,000 last month which is a $92,500 increase compared to this time last year. It was also higher than December 2022. Interestingly, Southern Shores surpassed Corolla in residential median sales price by $48,750 compared to January of 2022, with the price being $805,000, though still much lower than Duck.
While overall days on market increased 20 days compared to this time last year, Kitty Hawk still had the lowest days on market at 20 days.
Overall, at first glance, January was not a good month for real estate. However, if you look at certain statistics, you will see that we are still in a good market with more inventory and higher median sales prices. While sales dropped, agents were selling fewer, but more expensive properties, which is a great thing.