For newcomers, how would you describe our current real estate market?
Inventory right now is very tight. I think a lot of people are realizing what a great place Durham is to live, and they don’t want to move away. When a house does come on the market, it gets snapped up quickly. I think it speaks volumes about what a great town we live in. … If you look at the Triangle, Durham is still the most affordable – you get the most house for your money.
What’s the average turnaround time on the market right now?
The last study I saw said 2.9 months, meaning that at the rate that people are buying, if nothing new came on the market, we’d be out of things to sell in 2.9 months. That’s very low.
How did we develop such a strong market?
You look at what Durham has gone through during the past 10 years – the revitalization of downtown, which is now the happening place in the Triangle with the Durham Performing Arts Center, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the American Tobacco Campus, the central district with all the restaurants and the art spaces and the hotels – it’s just a wonderful place to spend time in. We’ve got great universities, like Duke University and North Carolina Central University. … You’ve got other areas like The Streets at Southpoint – that area was nothing 12 years ago, and look at all that’s there now with restaurants, shopping and things to do. Durham has become a destination. It’s no longer this sleepy little town.