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Though an official announcement has not yet been made, downtown Durham could soon be welcoming Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook and commonly referred to simply as Meta. Joining the presence of Google and Apple, Meta will be bringing an unknown number of new job opportunities to Durham, and along with it a highly skilled and educated workforce in need of housing. With a market that is suffering from a stall in sales due to raised interest rates and a lack of inventory, real estate impact projections have already begun in full force.
Next Silicon Valley?
Within the area of Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill that is colloquially known as “The Silicon Circle” or “East Coast Silicon Valley”, we can project the possible impact on housing through the lens of the response to last year’s announcement of Apple’s move to Durham. Encompassing the area surrounding Research Triangle Park, the Silicon Circle has already seen a marked increase of at least 10% in the average house purchase price. Looking strictly at the numbers, Living in Raleigh reports that the average purchase price in Durham before Apple’s official announcement was around $291,000. In The Silicon Circle, the average was $361,000. Following Apple’s announcement, prices in the Durham area alone jumped to an average of $380,000, with RTP properties rising to around $500,000. Whilst the arrival of these tech giants wasn’t the sole factor in this price increase, it certainly was a leading force. And according to reports from WRAL, investors are already making inquiries about potential properties to purchase as rentals, and what current rental rates are in the area. Understandably so, with the news that Amazon and Salesforce have also started sending out feelers on potential locations, buyers are once again eager to get a jump on purchasing as quickly as possible after a formal announcement is made.
What sort of impact will the arrival of Meta have on real estate in RTP?
Following the trend seen with Apple and Google, it is expected that the recent declining trend in sales will be reversed, and a strong seller’s market will return to the Raleigh/Durham area as buyers look to snatch up any available opportunities for rental properties. The already increased cost of living in these areas could also increase inventory in the market, via workers moving to more affordable housing balanced with a longer commute time.
With the arrival of Meta and potentially the addition of Amazon and Salesforce, projections are being made for Research Triangle Park to potentially become the largest mega-city between Washington DC and Atlanta. Combine this with the already notable migration of workers leaving states like California and New York that have a high cost of living for more affordable opportunities in North Carolina, it is becoming apparent that North Carolina’s real estate market will be bustling indeed in the coming months. Once a formal announcement is made, Meta’s arrival and contribution of job opportunities in the tech industry to the Bull City skyline bodes well for the outlook of the local housing market.
What are your projections for the Triangle Real Estate Market? Let us know in the comments below or share with a colleague in an upcoming CE Class!
References:
“BREAKING NEWS! FACEBOOK/META Is Coming to Raleigh-Durham NC.” YouTube, uploaded by Living in Raleigh TV, 8 June 2022.
“Durham Real Estate Market Could Explode with Meta’s Plans for the Area.” YouTube, uploaded by WRAL, 8 June 2022.