Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is Savannah Cade.
Eighty percent of home sellers across the Southeast are anxious about selling in today's market, according to Mark Spain Real Estate's Fall 2025 Southeast Home Seller Sentiment Report. As listings linger 8-13 days longer and home values fall by 3.9% year-over-year, sellers are feeling the weight of a shifting housing landscape.
Mark Spain's report surveyed home sellers in their Southeast Region, including North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas.
Three in four home sellers in North Carolina reported feeling anxious about the selling process, and more than a quarter (28%) described themselves as being very anxious, according to the survey.
For many, the primary source of that stress is the cost of repairs. Forty percent of North Carolinians identified unexpected repair expenses as a major concern, the highest percentage among Southeastern states. Regrets sellers reported regionally included buying into the wrong neighborhood or location (34%), feeling that they overpaid (30%), and rushing into the purchase (30%).
As bidding wars and receiving multiple offers becomes less common, home sellers are very aware of the changes in the market. Eighty-four percent of sellers across the Southeast believe their sale will be affected by market shifts, according to the report, and 58% say recent market news has already changed their selling plans.
However, 16% of sellers think their home will be an exception. This sentiment is strongest in North Carolina, where nearly one in four (24%) believe they won't be impacted by the downturn. One in five (20%) of North Carolinian sellers refuse to lower their price at all, despite not receiving offers.
When facing the reality of slower sales and lower prices, many sellers are prioritizing peace of mind over profit. More than half (54%) said they would rather accept less money than endure the stress of a prolonged sale. To stay competitive, 31% of sellers are making cash offers, and nearly two-thirds (64%) are willing to make concessions to close deals faster.
"Sellers today will pretty much do anything within reason because there's more competition," said Rachel Alles, regional director of sales at Mark Spain Real Estate.
"Rate buydowns, repair costs, and closing cost contributions are all on the table. Anything that offsets out-of-pocket costs or reduces risk for the buyer will make a seller stand out today."
Alles added that North Carolina sellers are motivated by speed and certainty.
"Some sellers feel like they don't have time to sit on the market," she said.
"Certainty is a real driver. Cash offers feel predictable - sellers just want to know the deal is going to close."
But for many would-be sellers, the biggest obstacle is the mortgage rate they already have. Sixty-eight percent of North Carolinians said they postponed selling because they don't want to give up their lower rate.
"If we had a way to transfer mortgage rates, a lot more people would move," Alles said.
Another issue weighing on the market is the lack of affordable housing.
"We definitely have an affordable housing issue in North Carolina - especially in Charlotte," Alles said.
"Even builders can't build affordable housing right now, so we're seeing a massive rise in townhomes and apartments."
She also pointed to government regulations and inspections as key bottlenecks slowing down construction.
"In new construction, everything slows down before drywall - you're waiting on framing, plumbing, electrical, mechanical inspections," Alles said.
"If multiple inspections could happen at once, that would speed up a lot - but you can't remove inspections or people will cut corners."
Some housing policy experts agree that regulatory reform could help ease North Carolina's affordability crisis. Kelly Lester, a policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, argues for zoning reform and deregulation as developers face major red tape.
"Zoning reform is a very good thing, and cities in North Carolina have done a good job allowing for more multifamily homes to be built," Lester told the Carolina Journal.
"However, it's just the first step toward fixing North Carolina's housing shortage. Even when developers can build more units, they face costly delays from permit backlogs, stormwater rules, and design mandates that make affordable projects impossible."
"If we're serious about affordability, deregulation has to go beyond zoning," Lester added.
"We need to cut the bureaucratic tangle that keeps supply from ever reaching the market."
poll#201
And whose fault is that: The politicians? Partly, but the larger part is the people that elect these corrupt idiots in this self-governed society.
North Carolina Voters remember: These corrupt idiots represent you, who you may be; so don't be that guy.