Real estate transactions increased 5 percent last year in Yadkin County.
Lisa Michals | The Yadkin Ripple
Yadkin County real estate transactions continued their single-digit increase in 2020, resisting the state- and nationwide trend of skyrocketing real estate sales and prices.
The county recorded 1,480 deed transfers last year, according to the Yadkin County Register of Deeds Office. That’s an increase of 5 percent compared to 2019, when the county saw 1,407 transfers.
“It reflects the limited market here for housing,” said Register of Deeds Aric Wilhelm. “If there were more developers here doing affordable housing, then those houses would sell quickly. I’ve seen houses go on the market, and then within three or four days, they are under contract.”
Home prices in Yadkin County saw modest gains, according to MLS data compiled by Robert Ball, owner and broker with UnderdownBall Real Estate based out of Elkin. The median home price for Yadkin County was $155,000 in 2020, up just seven percent compared to 2019.
That pales compared to state and national trends in home prices. According to data compiled by the real estate brokerage Redfin, median home prices were up 13 percent nationwide and up 11 percent across North Carolina in December. Neighboring Surry County saw home prices jump 15 percent, according to Ball.
In the city of Yadkinville, the median home price did not budge from around $160,000 from 2019 to 2020.
“Yadkin is more of a rural county and we just don’t have the same amount of properties,” Wilhelm said. “A lot of it is family-owned property and they will deed it to a younger relative if they want to build a house on it, but not necessarily put it up for sale on the open market.”
Real estate agent Diedre Rogers says it’s a seller’s market for anyone considering listing, and since the demand across the region has been sustained for so long, the inventory of properties for sale is dwindling.
“It’s crazy, we’re seeing a lot of people from Ohio, New York — the bigger cities — are wanting to get to the rural areas,” said Rogers, Vice President and Broker-in-Charge of Rogers Realty. “We’re seeing them wanting a little land, a little space.”
The Yadkin Valley with its wineries and charming small towns has been a big draw, she said, as people seek alternatives from city life amid the pandemic.
Yadkin County has seen solid real estate excise tax revenues from property transfers. In 2020, the sales value of all transfers combined in the county totaled $109,447,000, up 11 percent from 2019 and fueled by some large transactions including:
• The sale of two gas stations and an adjoining land tract for a combined sales price of $4.9 million. The properties, which changed hands in fall of 2020, are located on State Street in Yadkinville and on N.C. Highway 67 in Jonesville.
• The Cracker Barrel restaurant on N.C. Highway 67 in Jonesville was sold to new owner Chicago-based CB Portfolio Owner LLC in in August 2020 for $2.37 million.
Lisa Michals may be reached at 336-448-4968 or follow her on Twitter @lisamichals3.