Raleigh, NC Area – Real Estate Market Update
(Click a box above for sales data)
Raleigh, NC Real Estate Market Update March 2009
How is the Raleigh, NC real estate market? It depends upon your point of view. The Triangle real estate market has definitely shifted to a strong buyers market, which is not good news for sellers who need to sell at this time. On the other hand it is a great time to buy a home. There are lots of homes to choose from and interest rates are at their lowest rates in more than 35 years.
So what has been happening in the Raleigh real estate marketplace recently? The numbers of home sales are off dramatically, and it doesn’t matter whose numbers you look at. The charts below for Wake County is compiled from the Triagle Multiple Listing Service (TMLS). Click the tabs for more charts for each of the 4 primary counties in our area. I do more stats for Wake County and Johnson as those are the primary locations where we work. As always, please note that all information that is provided is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
In Wake County, the number of January closings were off 45% compared to 1/08 closings. Re-sale closings were off 38% and new home closings were off 55%. The number of active Wake County Listings in the TMLS was 7,909 in 2008 verses 8,103 for this year or a 2.5% increase.
The chart pretty much says it all for the Triangle area of NC. According to the TMLS, in addition to lower sales numbers, inventory increased in all areas except for Durham. The area Inside the Beltline led with a 63% inventory gain which was mainly due to new condo units in downtown Raleigh. The Cary/Apex/Morrisville area had a 50% inventory gain while North Raleigh/Falls Lake had a 46%
gain in homes on the market. The large increases in these two areas can be attributed to resale listings priced at 400k and up.
There were 5 price point/location segments that showed an increase in sales in 2008. Home sales for the price point over $800K in Cary/Apex/Morrisville area increased 16% over 2007 and the inside the beltline in this price range increased 3%. This indicates that these locations are preferred by high end buyers.
Despite the growth in inventory, the average home sales price in 2008 remained flat in comparison to 2007. The Raleigh area overall did not see the dramatic home price drops that have occurred in other parts of the country, because our appreciation rates were not in the double digits realm, but a steadier 4 – 6 % over the last several years.
An analysis of the last 90 day closing activity for 2008 indicates the average sales price per square foot is off $1 at $111. This provides further evidence of house price stability. A sample of re-sales that closed during 2008 where the sellers purchased in 2007 reveals a median gain of 1.92%. Note that these are averages and the sales numbers reflect homes that were priced correctly. Overpriced homes that are not in top selling condition (really not ready for the market) are either still on the market or they have been withdrawn.
According to Builder Magazine On-Line, the Raleigh market is the sixth healthiest housing market in the US. The top 5 are all in Texas. Raleigh has one of the highest growth rates in the country and has averaged 5% per year for the past 5 years. Read the full article here: The Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009 The Builder On-line article attributes a job growth in 2008 in our area of 2.6%.
An American City Business Journals Inc. report of March 9, found Raleigh to be Raleigh among the very few markets to add jobs in 4th Quarter of 2008. “The number of jobs in the Raleigh-Cary MSA, which comprises Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties, increased by 3,500 from the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a bizjournals analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.”
So what does this mean to someone considering putting their home on the market for sale? It depends upon your reason for selling. If you are planning to move up and depending upon how long you have lived in your home, it might be a great time to sell. Give the PolingTeam a call and we will do a free seller consultation for you including an analysis of your neighborhood.
So what does this mean to someone considering buying a home in the Raleigh, NC area? Let’s consider these statistics from the TMLS for the last 3 Months:
- Houses on Market: 8257
- Average number of sales in last 3 months: 665
- Inventory Level: 12.4 months
Most professionals agree that a Buyers Market occurs when there is over 7 months of listing inventory available. So what kind of market are we in? We’re in a strong buyers market. So what are you waiting for? Interest rates are at their lowest since 1972; now is the best time to buy a home in the last 37 years! Give the PolingTeam a call and we’ll do a buyer’s consultation for you with absolutely no obligation. The following chart was provided by one of our mortgage friends at Integrity Mortgage, Andy Holloman.
*Data from © 2008-9 First American CoreLogic, Inc.
** Copyright © TMLS 2001-2009 North Carolina Triangle MLS, Inc.
Information Is Believed To Be Accurate But Not Guaranteed – The PolingTeam Keller Williams Realty
