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Why The Real Estate Market Isn’t Normal

July 10, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

Typically, when the Federal Reserve raises rates, the housing market reacts in a predictable fashion. Mortgage rates climb, followed by declining home prices. This is not what has been happening lately. There have been 10 rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in recent years, intended to help curb inflation, but home prices continue to climb. What is happening?

After the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve had to do something to help curb inflation. Typically they raise the benchmark interest rate to accomplish that goal. The benchmark rate increases the rates that banks charge each other for overnight loans. They pass those rate hikes along to consumers by charging higher interest rates on their mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and other financial instruments. Typically, consumers cut back on their spending in response. This slows price increases, and in some cases brings prices back much lower.

These measures by the Federal Reserve have done a lot to bring inflation back in line, much quicker than in many other countries. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage had been down around 2% after the Fed slashed rates to try and stimulate the economy. Now rates are hanging around 8%. This has caused many people to rethink selling their homes because they don’t want to trade a 2% rate on an existing mortgage, for a new mortgage at an 8% rate. The smaller supply of homes for sale is keeping prices higher than they should be considering the rate hikes. This is making the housing market seem abnormal right now, but it is a result of a lot of factors working together in a way that even the Federal Reserve didn’t exactly predict. It is unclear if there will be additional rate hikes, or if additional hikes could lead to a recession. Whatever happens, expect to need more money to pay for a home and expect your payment to be larger than it would have been a few years ago due to the increased mortgage interest rates.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

Aquatic Center Coming in Gaston County

July 10, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

What do you do on a rainy day, or when it’s too cold to swim in Lake Wylie? You are about to have a new option. Gaston County is building an aquatic center coming to the town of Dallas on highway 321. This has been in the works since 2016, and is finally underway. The site is located right behind the Ingles Market, and right beside Carr Elementary School. This puts it just 30 minutes away from the Buster Boyd Bridge.

The plan for the aquatic center covers 34,000 square feet of space. Included in the plan is a 50-meter pool, a warm water programming pool with zero degree entry for classes, therapy, and aquatic safety instruction. There will be spectator seating for over 1,200 people, clinical rooms, a weight room, and a hospitality suite.

The mission of Gaston Aquatics is to improve the health of the region by providing swimming instruction for all children and adults of all socio-economic levels. Death by drowning is totally preventable with correct training. In addition, they want to offer adaptive aquatics for differently-abled people, provide pool space for medially-focused rehabilitation, and provide programming for veterans as well. Rescue training will be available to train new lifeguards. In addition, there will be competitive swim teams and individual competition swimming for regional and national competitions. The aquatic center is intending to be a place of great determination, and hopefully victories great and small.

June Market Report – Greater Lake Wylie Area

July 7, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

Inventory is once again going down in the Charlotte Region. There are over 1,000 fewer homes for sale this June than last June, a decrease of 17.2%. New listings, pending sales, and closed sales are all down from last June as well. This is hardly surprising as last June was the beginning of the end of the frenzy before interest rates went up. Listing prices are still on the rise, squeezing many first time buyers out of the market for now.

When you look at the Greater Lake Wylie area, you see the same trend. There are just 129 homes listed for sale, down 24.1% from 170 homes last June. Only 81 sales closed in June, down 39.1% from 133 last June. Pending sales were down 20% from 120 down to 96. This means that closed sales will likely be down next month as those pending sales head to the closing table. New listings are down 38.9% from 185 last June to 113 this June.

Prices are still on the rise in the Greater Lake Wylie area. The average home price in June was down just slightly, 3% down from $682,560 last year to $662,252 this year. List prices are on the rise however, with the average list price up 21.7% from $596,559 last year to $726,308 this year. This could be the result of a few large listings as the smaller sample size can skew the statistics. For example, a few waterfront homes with prices over $1 million could bring the average up substantially.

Homes are staying on the market longer than the quick sales of last year. The average time on the market before a sale was 25 days, up from 15 days last June. This means that sellers have to be patient and wait for an offer that might not come the same weekend that they list their homes for sale. For buyers, it means that they can take their time a little bit more and not feel quite so rushed on the biggest single investment they will probably make.

Queens Feast Coming To Lake Wylie

July 6, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

Charlotte Restaurant Week is a twice yearly tradition that we all look forward to because it is a delicious chance to try a new, new to you, or an old favorite restaurant. This year, there are many choices close to Lake Wylie so you don’t have to travel far to check out some great food for dinner. This is a great chance to introduce the family to new cuisine, or leave the kids at home and have a great date night.

Participating restaurants prepare special three course prix fixe menus for $30, $35, $40, $45, or $50 per person, depending on the restaurant, not including taxes and gratuity. Reservations are recommended, and restaurants could provide last minute changes if they are out of an item. Please check with each restaurant in advance if you have specific dietary needs.

This year’s dates are July 21st – July 30th. Book your reservations now to ensure you get a table for the feast. Reservations need to be made separately with each restaurant. Coupons may or may not be accepted during the event, please ask to be sure.

Participating restaurants in the Lake Wylie area are:

Belmont
- Barrister’s at The Esquire Hotel
- The Bottle Tree
- Drift on Lake Wylie
- Heirloom Restaurant
- Old Stone Steakhouse

Fort Mill / LakeWylie / Rock Hill / York County
- FishMarket Bar and Grill
- Lily’s Bistro
- Napa at Kingsley
- Old Town Kitchen and Cocktails
- The Pump House
- The Social Cork Wine Bar

If you want to know more about Restaurant Week, check out the official website for the event here. To learn more about buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area, call us at 803-831-8588. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

$1 Million Homes More Common

June 30, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

With the recent trends in the real estate market, home prices have been on the rise with apparently no end in sight. One result of that is that homes listed for $1 million or more are becoming much more common in the Charlotte region. We are even seeing this trend around Lake Wylie.

It used to be that the only homes on the lake that commanded a large price tag of $1 million or more were waterfront properties. In the past year, there were more properties that sold for above $1 million that had no water frontage at all. Many of these homes had large lots, and equally large homes of 5,000 square feet or more of heated living area.

With prices on the rise with inflation and high demand of people moving to the area, we will undoubtedly see more homes creep above that $1 million threshold. In addition, more luxury neighborhoods are being built in the area as Lake Wylie is a great commuter destination.

There are also more homes listed recently that approach $1 million. There are currently 4 homes listed for sale in the $900,000’s. Eleven homes sold in the last year in Lake Wylie that were in the $900,000’s, and many of them were not waterfront properties. This shows that Lake Wylie is a hot ticket and there is high demand pushing prices higher than before. This poises Lake Wylie to be a luxury destination and with great schools and more restaurants and shopping destination coming this way, it should be a great choice for years to come.

Neighborhood Spotlight: Paddlers Cove

June 30, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

If you are looking for a neighborhood that takes full advantage of the lake lifestyle, look no further than Paddlers Cove on Lake Wylie. Paddlers Cove is an ideal location just minutes away from the lake, is zoned to top rated Clover schools, and enjoys lower South Carolina taxes. A commute to Uptown Charlotte is quick and easy. This is definitely a neighborhood that has everything.

Amenities in Paddlers cove make the neighborhood even more attractive. There is a community pool, open-air pavilion, walking/hiking/cycling trails, a 32-acre athletic complex, and direct access to Crowders Creek. The Clover Aquatic Center is within walking distance, and YMCA Camp Thunderbird is just down the road.

Homes in Paddlers Cove were built in the last few years and include townhomes and single-family homes. The townhomes have 3-4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and 1,400 to 2,500 square feet. Single-family homes have 3-6 bedrooms, 2.5-5 bathrooms, and 2,100-5,000+ square feet. Homes have open floor plans, chef’s kitchens, and sumptuous primary suites. Many of the larger homes have home offices, flex spaces, guest suites and much more. Homes were all built within the last few years, but construction in the neighborhood is complete so there are no trucks and no noise of construction left.

In the past year, 54 homes and townhomes were sold, though some of those were new construction homes as the construction completed. Townhomes sold for a range of $295,000 to $375,000. Single family homes sold for a range of $450,000 to $800,000. Prices were dependent on size and features and also location within the neighborhood.

Neighborhood Spotlight: Beckett Cove

June 22, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

Near Lake Wylie, on the Charlotte side, you’ll find a cute newer construction neighborhood called Beckett Cove. This great spot has stylish homes built within the last 3 years so they show just like brand new. The neighborhood is close to everything you need, and is an easy commute to Uptown Charlotte. There are many different natural areas nearby to explore as well.

To find Beckett Cove, travel south on Tryon Street until Youngblood Road. Take a left on Youngblood, then take a left on Zoar Road. The neighborhood will be on your right. From Beckett Cove it is a quick drive to get groceries, see a movie, or head out to dinner. Local schools are less than two miles away in Palisades Park. There is also nearby highway access to I-77 at Gold Hill Road.

Homes in Beckett Cove have open concepts with flexible spaces. They are the perfect size for any family, with options to change as you grow. There are great storage solutions, chef’s kitchens, private primary suites, and much more. There were 10 original floor-plans with 3-5 bedrooms, 2-4.5 bathrooms, 2-3 car garages and 1,806 to 3,078 square feet of living space.

Because Beckett Cove is newer construction, there are not typically many homes that come up for sale yet. In the last year, just 5 homes changed owners. They sold for between $450,000 and $550,000 depending on size and features. There is currently only one home listed for sale and it went under contract after just 3 days on the market. This shows the high demand when one of these homes becomes available.

Lake Wylie Homeowner’s Insurance Price Hikes

June 19, 2023 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

If you are currently a homeowner, you may be in for some sticker shock with your homeowner’s insurance this year. Many insurance companies are seeing higher costs and are passing the costs along to their customers. There are a few different reasons for the changes, but we are unlikely to see these changes reverse themselves, so you need to be ready for higher carrying costs on your home which can make a difference in what home you can afford.

Climate change is one of the major reasons for hikes in rates. Insurance companies have had to pay out big settlements in places like Florida due to more and worse hurricanes. Homeowners there are paying up to 4 times higher premiums if they can get coverage at all. Wildfires are making premiums rise in California and Colorado as well with some of the major carriers like State Farm and Allstate not writing new policies in those areas.

Reinsurance rate hikes, the type of insurance used by insurance companies to limit their risks has risen by up to 40%. They have been losing money for the past five years so they have to raise rates to cover their losses. These costs have to be shared among the pool of customers causing rates to rise as well.

The increase in frequency and severity of natural disasters means that these costs are not just temporary. Rates are expected to stay high with no reprieve. If you have an escrow account set up as part of your mortgage, you will see your monthly payment go up if your insurance rates rise. If you pay your insurance separately, you should call your agent to make sure you aren’t going to be hit with a much higher bill that you aren’t ready for.

Luckily, the Charlotte region has not had many natural disasters lately. It is rare for a hurricane to hit this far inland, but it has happened before as in the case of Hurricane Hugo. This means that we should see much less significant rate hikes than if we were in a coastal area or wildfire prone area. It is still a good idea to check with your insurance agent to review your policy.