Raleigh Real Estate Reports
Raleigh Resales On the Rise?
Home Resales Increase Dramatically, Inventory Decreases in Wake County NC
December 2008 numbers show that Wake County real estate market is starting to trend back up. After being down significantly to last year over a slow fall season, Raleigh NC resales are picking up - and inventory is dropping.
The Raleigh, NC real estate market hasn't seen anything like the picture on the national level. As a matter of fact, appreciation is still 4%, that's a positive 4%, for 2008!
However, sales have been slower than the past couple of boom years. But it looks like that trend is starting to turn.
Wake County Real Estate Resales - 2008 vs 2007
November took a significant dip, but over the past six months resale numbers were down to 2007. Even the expiration of the first time homebuyer assistance programs at the end of September didn't bring sales up to 2007 levels.
But December 2008 showed a significant increase, as buyers across the board took advantage of lower interest rates. Sales were down only 5% to last year.
Does this mean these homes were given away?
Let's look at price trends.
Average Resale Price Wake County NC 2008 vs 2007
As you can see, the average resales price has been UP to 2007 in most months, and saw a significant increase in December 2008 (5.79%).
So it doesn't look the increase in sales is due to deep discounts. Since appreciation is also up, this could mean a trending towards sales of higher priced resale homes.
What about inventory? Are there a ton of homes on the market?
Not really.
Inventory has been decreasing throughout 2008, and December 2008 inventory was up only 2.45% to 2007.
Total Available Homes for Sale Wake County NC 2008 vs 2007
In December 2008, total available inventory (new homes, resale homes, townhomes) was down to only 2.45% above total available inventory the previous year. As you can see, this is a significant downtrend in available inventory.
Why is inventory decreasing?
Increased sales, and less new construction. Permits have been down. Instead of lots of spec homes to choose from, builders are opting for presales and custom projects.
Homebuyers can still find some bargains - and we have yet to see January 2009 sales.
Current months of supply in Wake County, NC is 6 months, with some variation by area. This is a fairly balanced market.
But overall, it looks like a number of homebuyers that were waiting for great interest rates have decided to buy, and there's no question that there are fewer homes on the market to look at than there were 6 months ago.
Information from TARR Reports, an independent analysis of Triangle real estate.
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