A total of 300 members of the Fayetteville area real estate industry gathered at the Crown Event Center on Tuesday, Feb. 13 to get up to speed on the economic forecast and learn about what factors may be impacting the real estate market in the coming year. 

This year, the event hosted by the Longleaf Pine REALTORS® Association featured guest speakers  Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun, with the National Association of REALTORS®, and Loren Hill, Carolina Core Regional Economic Development Director.

For his presentation, Dr. Yun examined what was happening in the residential real estate market from a county wide perspective, comparing what we might be seeing  in Fayetteville based on national trends and what is happening to other major metropolitan areas in the state. 

Highlights include: 

• The primary concern following COVID-19 for homebuyers was a lack of inventory. 

• Lower inflation rates were clocked as of the morning of Feb. 13 at 3.1 percent.
• In 2020- 2023 there was a low inventory of already existing homes for sale, but a high inventory for new builds.
• Total payroll job numbers are up 5 million compared to pre-COVID-19 numbers 
• Forecasted long term job creation will be the main driver for real estate purchases in the state. 
• In NC, the home price appreciation rose 58.6 percent between Q1 of FY 2020 to Q3 of FY 2023.
• North Carolina showed a 7.6 percent increase in job creation since 2020.  

Following Dr. Yun,  Loren Hill, Carolina Core Regional Economic Development Director took to the podium to highlight the achievement of the NC Carolina Core organization. 2023 milestones include: 

Creating 49,201 (as of Dec. 31, 2023) office/ industrial jobs created surpassing their original goal of creating 50,000 office and retail jobs by 2038. 

• Doubling that goal to reach 100,000 office/ industrial jobs created by 2038. 
• Adding a fifth megasite to the list of promoted industrial real estate opportunities under the NC Carolina Core Umbrella 
• Announcing that Cumberland County has submitted a number of properties to be converted into another potential megasite, thanks to work being done by the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation. 
• Launching the More In The Core North Carolina advertising campaign to attract new workers from outside of the state to join the workforce here. 
• Taking part in the Carolina Core Housing Needs Assessment survey currently underway in 21 counties. 
• Seeking Future Interstate designation for a 65-mile segment of U.S. 421 from west of Wilkesboro to Winston-Salem. 
• Achieving a new Future I-685 designation with new signage set to be posted on U.S. 421 from Sanford to Greensboro. 

Finally, Longleaf Pine Realtor CEO Zan Monroe took to the stage to reflect on his travels and speaking engagements that took him around the world before  announcing that he will be stepping down from the position in 2025. 

“For the last 25 years, not only have I run your Association, I have traveled the world and been a speaker, in every state except for South Dakota, which I hope to get to,” shared Monroe. “And my job has been to bring back great ideas from these travels and I hope that I have done that for you. Our job is to bring those ideas and to build this Association into a power house and you have an expert staff that will continue to do that, but this is my last year as your Association exce. I will work through the end of the year and we will transition into our current staff to keep our member services available to you as we always have. It has been my honor and pleasure being with you today,” shared Monroe before he exited the stage to a standing ovation to the crowd.