Everything You Need To Know About Early Voting In North Carolina

Early in person voting is in full spring in North Carolina this primary season. And if you want to make sure your vote is heard here is everything you need to know about early voting in North Carolina for 2024. Early voting is going on now and runs through Saturday, March 2nd. It's become a very popular way to vote with typically more than 1/3 of voters choosing to vote prior to election day for both primary and general elections.

There are more than 340 early voting sites across North Carolina. Unique to early voting, eligible voters can cast their ballot at any voting site in the county they reside in. You can find a list of sites in your specific county here.

This is for the primary elections. These are used to determine who the nominees will be for each political party in November's general election. You may only vote on your registered political party's ballot. This means if you are a registered Democrat you will only have the option to vote in the Democratic primary. Those registered as unaffiliated may choose one party's ballot or a nonpartisan ballot if available.

Yes, you need to bring a valid photo ID which you will be required to show in order to vote. If you do not have a valid photo ID you have a few options. First, your county board of elections will provide you a free voter photo ID. You can all the info on that here. You also have the option to fill out a form that explains why you are unable to show photo identification. If you just don't have your ID with you , you will also be able to go show your ID at the country board of elections no later than 5 pm on March 14th (primary election day).

Eligible North Carolinians can register and vote during early voting. You will need to provide proof of residence if this is something you plan on doing. Get more info here.

If you miss out on early voting do not worry. You will be able to vote at your designated polling place on Tuesday, March 5th.

It's important to make your voice heard especially in our world today. So be sure to get out there and do your civic duty and help to determine who will lead our country in the coming years. Find out more info on early voting in North Carolina here.

Finally, mortgage rates are declining, and homes seem to be staying on the market for longer than one weekend. Even still it's a tough time to try to purchase a home, especially in in-demand locations. Prices are still significantly higher than they were 3-4 years ago. As someone who is keeping a close eye on the market, I'm seeing prices more than $100,000 higher for comparable properties than in 2020. It's disheartening, to say the least. And this is of course because I'm looking in one of North Carolina's most in-demand locations to buy a home.

So what are those in-demand cities and towns where people are looking and that are getting significant attention online? Our friends at Bet Ohio decided to find out and they were nice enough to share their research with us. To conduct this research the team at Bet Ohio looked at cities across the country. They gave each city or town two scores. First was a "demand score". The demand score "represents an area's page viewers per property" compared to other areas. This score is in the format of X out of 100.

The second factor is "median days on the market". This is the median days property listings spend on the market before selling in that city. Both these metrics were weighted with a score of 50 to create a demand index score out of 100.

No North Carolina locations made the top 10 list in America, which is a bit surprising to me. Topping the list were the following 5 cities:

Keep reading to see North Carolina's 7 most in-demand locations to buy a home. Thanks to our friends at Bet Ohio for sharing their research with us. You can view the full list and study here.

Demand Score: 56.25

Median Days On The Market: 51.5

Demand Index Score: 60.51

Apex is a suburb of Raleigh, in Wake County. It's approximately 30 minutes from the capital city. Downtown Apex is designated a historic district. Apex is known for great schools and a good quality of living.

Demand Score: 65.88

Median Days On The Market: 46.0

Demand Index Score: 68.54

Durham, located in Durham County in the Triangle area of the state has seen a lot of recent growth. The downtown area has become a destination with bars, restaurants, and entertainment such as the Durham Bulls and DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center).

https://www.zillow.com/randleman-nc/

Demand Score: 77.58

Median Days On The Market: 58.1

Demand Index Score: 70.85

Randleman is the most surprising location on this list to me. It's a town in Randolph County south of Greensboro and not far from Asheboro. It's a small but growing town attributing to the demand for housing. In 2021 Randleman had a population of 4,631.

Demand Score: 76.30

Median Days On The Market: 46.3

Demand Index Score: 74.75

Our state's capital city ranked 4th on the most in-demand places to purchase a home. Raleigh continues to grow with a wealth of things to do for families and adults. The area has wonderful schools, and is home and closeby to several major universities.

Demand Score: 72.22

Median Days On The Market: 39.5

Demand Index Score: 74.94

Of course, Charlotte and Raleigh are back to back. In this case, Charlotte eclipsed Raleigh and I can personally attest to the difficult home-buying market. Charlotte is growing at an incredible rate with more than 100 people moving here daily.

Demand Score: 92.29

Median Days On The Market: 52.1

Demand Index Score: 82.15

There has been a lot of buzz about Hickory and what a great place it is to live lately. It also has received recognition for the affordability of homes- so it's no wonder those homes are in demand. In this town at the edge of the mountains, you're not too far from Charlotte, but you're also close to all the outdoor activities the Blue Ridge Mountains have to offer.

Demand Score: 85.36

Median Days On The Market: 39.9

Demand Index Score: 82.78

And topping the list? Cary, NC. Cary is a very high-demand suburb of Raleigh. Much to my surprise it was recently named the safest and cheapest place to live in NC. Safest I can completely see but Cary is generally known as one of the most wealthy parts of the Triangle, if not the state.