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Cary NC Luxury Market Conditions 2010

By
Real Estate Agent with Santrock Realty Group Inc. , 244213

I've recently had the pleasure of working with Buyers looking for a Luxury Home in Cary.  Just last weekend I showed a home in Preston and the Listing Agent sent me an email asking for additional feedback to my comments on why the home we viewed did not compete with the other homes on the market based on price and updates that are needed. 

Sellers need to pay attention.  In Cary there is a tremendous amount of competition in this price range.  In Cary Area 5,10 alone there are 18 homes for sale and, in 2010, only 2 homes between 1M and 2M that were not new construction sold.  The home  in Avenue of the Estates that sold sold less than $1M(the other is pending). I sold one that was technically a resale in Renaissance at Regency but the homeowners never lived there. 

In order to compete with new construction the homes need to have the same quality, construction, and updates as the others on the market or they will be unable to compete.   If sellers completely update the home they could still end up suffering with the price and have spent a considerable amount of money in doing so.  In this market I tell my sellers that they have to lead the market in order to be competitive-either by the look/feel of the home or in pricing.  Who knows, the luxury home market could get worse in the triangle before it gets better.   

 That said, our local analyst, Stacy Amphinson, defines the Luxury Home Segment as homes for sale over $500k.  For this analysis I've included homes priced $700k and above because I think that provides a better picture of the true Cary Luxury Homes Market

In Cary there are a couple of other elements at play.  In the past homes in established neighborhoods like MacGregor Downs and Preston sold incredibly well because the neighborhoods were well established and had golf course views.  A couple of years back when the real estate market was booming the custom builders decided to ramp up new construction.  As a result, new construction has had a big impact on resale homes in this segment. 

For the sake of this analysis I'm going to break down the homes into four price points: 

  • $700,000-$800,000
  •  $800,000-$1M
  •  $1M-$2M+ and
  • $2M+

Cary Luxury Home Market

All figures are bases on numbers pulled today October 27, 2010 and are from the Triangle MLS:

 

 

Here are a few observations that relate back to my comments above:

  • At $178/square foot Cary's Luxury homes are less expensive than homes in other popular Luxury Home communities in the Triangle
  • I ran the same analysis in 2008 and the Average Price/Square Foot in Cary was $198 so prices in this segment have dropped
  • Of the 52 Homes that have sold above $700k YTD 37 of them were new construction
  • Top Selling Cary Luxury Home neighborhoods include Regency with 15 Sales & Copperleaf with 14 Sales
  • New construction neighborhoods selling briskly include Copperleaf, Rennaisance at Regency,  and Greyhawk Landing
  • Homes in the 2M+ range are found in Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, and Raleigh but fewer in Cary
  • Lending restrictions have had a significant influence on the $700k-$800k price point.  Sales in 2010 are off by 43% compared to 2008
  • A decrease in new homes for sale and sellers that have not sold taking their homes off of the market has influenced the inventory in the Triangle Luxury Home Segment

 If you have any questions regarding this report or would like more information on the Cary Luxury Home Market please feel free to email me or visit Tracy Santrock's website for more information.

 

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Comments (2)

Dick & Sandy Beals
Wilmington Real Estate 4U Wilmington, NC - Wilmington, NC

Hi Tracy,

Nice analysis....I did one similar to this and included short sales and foreclosures....another eye opener!

Dick Beals

Oct 27, 2010 05:34 AM
Eric Bouler
Gardner Realtors, Licensed in La. - New Orleans, LA
Listening to your Needs

One of the things I do is make sure the sellers see the competition and there pricing. Staging and updates my be needed to compete. Do not be shy on the improvement front. When you work with buyers you see a lot and it easy to know the competition. Good article.......... Coming to NAR, free beer on me if you are......

Oct 27, 2010 11:15 AM