Real Estate Q&A with Jennifer Brown, President of Brunswick County Association of Realtors

Meet Jennifer Brown who said the real estate industry did a fantastic job of adapting quickly to new ways of doing business during the epidemic.

How did 2021 compare to 2020?
Residential sales were basically the same in terms of number of units sold and new listings as in 2020. The increase was in selling price (up almost 20%) and total value of sales (up 26%) hitting almost $3 billion in total sales. The past two years have seen record numbers in sales and record lows in available homes to sell.

What do you foresee for 2022?
Another great year! Lack of inventory will be something we will continue to see, although we hope to see some new construction inventory to help with that. Interest rates are expected to increase some, but they are still very good even with an increase. Historically, it is still unbelievable that we are listing a home, putting it under contract and selling on average in around 30-some days!

How many members are part of your organization? Has your organization seen growth this past year?
We have 1,411 Realtor members, a six-year high, and we averaged 14 new members a month in 2021.

What are the benefits of being a part of your organization in your opinion?
Being a part of BCAR allows us to also be a part of N.C. Realtors and the National Association of Realtors, which are both just bigger voices for our industry. All of these organizations support the American dream of home ownership. One of the things that makes our trade association unique is that we have a Code of Ethics that we follow and have a process in place to hold us accountable to that; Realtor members are always held to a higher standard than someone who just has a real estate license.

How has COVID affected business this year?
The real estate industry did a fantastic job of adapting quickly to new ways of doing business —doing video showings, etc. We worked very hard in a high-stress environment. Sellers were concerned about their homes being shown, buyers were concerned about going in homes, there was cleaning before and after each showing, and we all were being as cautious as we possibly could yet still helping people accomplish their goals of buying and selling. We fought hard and pushed through that new territory and ended up with an unbelievable couple of years in real estate!