Housing market keeps heating up: Latest Zillow report shows demand still exceeds supply in Raleigh

The worst kept secret was just announced early last week: the Raleigh and Durham area was listed as the second best place to live in the U.S.

And the news came at a time when the housing market was already in the favor of sellers and homebuyers were frustrated with a lack of available inventory.

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"I tell people you have to jump in now. I really try to tell people not to wait," said realtor Anna Ball Hodge with Hodge & Kittrell Sotheby's International Realty. "You have to get in on this upward trend that we don't know how long it will continue."

MLS data shows home prices in the Raleigh metro area spiked 23 percent from June 2020 to June 2021.

"If you say I'm going to cool off and wait a year, you're going to be paying more," she said.

A report released Tuesday by Wake County indicated the median price of a home in the county increased by 9 percent to $383,000 from May to June 2021. This trend in market activity is leading Hodge and other industry experts to condition buyers on what to expect.

"We prep our buyers; how high are you willing to go, what are you most comfortable paying," said Hodge. "Our prices are continuing to increase. I don't think it's going to slow down. I think perhaps seasonally in the Fall or Winter we may see a slow down from a buyer's side. So there may be a little less competition with buyers in the winter."

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According to Zillow, inventory in the market has decreased by 57 percent since this time last year.

The typical home is now worth $342,209, up 16.9 percent over last June. The typical U.S. home value is at $293,349.

"Every house has a bidding war," said Zach Honeycutt with The Honeycutt Team and Movil Realty. "Even if it seems like it's a fixer-upper, it still has a bidding war. So it could be really hard to get your offer to be the selected one. It can be frustrating for people."

Additionally, buyers are putting in multiple offers before winning a home, which in turn leads to house hunting fatigue.

"Obviously that can feel frustrating but feels like a big victory when they finally find one that gets accepted," Honeycutt said.

"That is daunting," said Hodge. "Keep at it. The right house at the right time will come along if you're realistic and competitive with your offer price."