GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) -The rise in cost and higher interest rates directly impact the housing market. But how is it affecting our community here in the East?

According to the Pitt County, North Carolina Real Estate Market Report, there is around a 25 percent decrease in home sales this year compared to 2022. This is due to the higher interest rates which are in the sevens and builders on the fence about buying loans. Although construction is not slowing down, there is still a lack of inventory and a lack of buyers.

“There is a big drop in the number of houses being sold, just because of lack of inventory, lack of buyers, interest rates being high, so it’s slowing down. But it’s still a seller’s market,” Realtor, Dan Jenkins said.

According to Brock Letchworth, the Public Information Officer for the city of Greenville, there has been roughly a 45 percent increase in the number of building permits the city received this year compared to last year for single-family homes and townhomes.

• NUMBER OF BUILDING PERMITS – JULY 1ST 2021 TO JUNE 30TH 2022 – 561 total permits
• NUMBER OF BUILDING PERMITS – JULY 1ST 2022 – JUNE 30TH 2023 – 816 total permits

“There will be at least one more rake hike from the FED and with that looming, people are still going to sit on the fence for a while. The good thing is, that we do have historically low inventory, so once that number softens, if interest rates could come down and maybe get into the mid 5′s, I think that will release a lot of pin-up demand and buyers will begin buying again,” Broker, Brad Carter said.

Local realtors also have pulled some statistics and there is around a 15 percent drop in the total volume of sales in Pitt County, as well as an 18 percent off in the number of new listings compared to 2022.