Real Estate Trends in Raleigh, Triangle, North Carolina

The real estate market trends in the Triangle market to include Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest, and rural Wake County as well as surrounding counties such as Durham, Franklin, Harnet, Johnston, Orange, Chatham to name a few, has surprised many in the face of the national media attention to the disasterous situation of the real estate market. In fact, some areas of the country are still doing very well to include Manhattan. However, the national media outlets have spelled doom and gloom to such an extent that many would be home buyers are timid at best, to get into the market with homeownership. When one looks at the actual numbers of the market, you cannot miss the positives that still exist in our market. Across the board, 2007 is not even the worst real estate market that we have seen in the past 5 years. In fact, 2004 was a much more challenging year for real estate in the Triangle with fewer sales, few new homes being built, and days on the market, just to name a few. Armed with statistical information, it is easy to explain the advancement of our market in these challenging days that we are experiencing.

JOBS

Job growth in both of the Metropolitan Statistical Areas in our market had a better than average workforce growth compared to the prior year. The U.S. workforce grew at a .67%, while North Carolina grew at .91%. However, both the Durham M.S.A. and the Raleigh/Cary M.S.A grew by greater numbers at 1.8% and 1.4% respectively. This means more people potentially looking for housing in this market than across the state and the nation.


Inventory

Inventory. Currently there are 13,410 active listings within the four main counties that comprise the Triangle. This is an increase of 23% compared to Oct. of 2006. There are currently 4,996 new home listings, which is an increase of 21% from 2006. This means that there are 8,414 re-sale listings, an increase of 25% compared to 2006 inventory levels for re-sale homes. To get more specific, there were 24 (compared to 23 in 7/07) price points/geographic area that had lower inventory and 74 (compared to 45 in 7/07) price points/geographic areas that had higher inventory levels.

Showings

Showings. There were 72,106 showings in September of 2007. This is an 8% increase from the 66,803 showings in September of 2006. This reflects the highest number of showings in September was the highest amount within the past four years. This means that more people are looking at more homes than last year. Buyers are more selective due to more options.

Pending Sales

Pending Sales. There were 2,351 listings taken off the market in September with a status changed to pending or closed. 1,942 of these listings were in the main four counties, which is a 14% decrease compared to pending listings of September 2006 and the lowest amount within the past four years. Total pending sales were down from Sept. 2004 (Sept/07-2351; Sept/04-2604).

Closed Sales

Closed Sales. There were 23,247 closed sales in the four county market during the first nine months. This is a decrease of 3% compared to the 23,983 closed sales during the first nine months of 2006. There were 2,583 closed sales during the month of September, a decrease of 3% compared to September 2006. The closings for the first nine months in 2004 and 2005 were less than this year with 19,843 in 2004 and 22,260 in 2005.

The average sale price during the month was $248,500, an increase of 4% compared to Sept. 2006. Average sale price for Sept. 2006 was $239,100, compared to $214,200 in Sept. 2004. So, prices are continuing to increase despite the tougher market. This is where many markets across the country have sagged considerablely due to much tougher markets than we are experiencing in Wake county.

Days on Market

Days on Market. The average days on market for closed sales during the first nine months has been 73 days. The average at the end of Sep. 2006 was 72 days and the average at the end of Sept. 2005 was 85 days. The average days on the market at the end of Sept. 2004 was 90 days. The average for a re-sale home was 59 days versus 61 days in '06 and the average for a new home was 107 days versus 100 in '06.

Current Supply

Current Supply. The current supply of all housing within the four main counties is 5 months. The current supply at the end of September 2004 was 4 months. Compared to previous years at the end of September, 2005 had 8 months of supply and 2004 had 11 months of supply. There are 14 (compared to 25 in 9/06) price points/geographic areas with a current supply of 2 months or less. There are 11 (compared to 4 in 9/06) price points/geographic areas with a current supply of 10 months or more.

I have thrown out many figures and statistic and many people reading this article may be scratching their heads by now. I am no different to some extent. The bottom line with these figures is the fact that we have had a more challenging market in years past than we have today. The real estate market has shifted towards a buyer's market which has been a strong seller's market for the past 2 years. However, homes are still selling and for higher prices than last year. Whether buying or selling, you can still have success and see a positive return on your investments. Buyers have an advantage in that they have ample options and are often times waiting to make an offer until they have viewed all the homes available. For them, they can often get everything they want in a home where last year, they often had to settle for getting as much as they could.

For sellers, be optomistic that the market is not as bad as it could be. You can still sell for more than you bought the home as a general rule, but it may take a few extra days and a price reduction or two to get it done. You will most likely have more showings that do not result in offers as the buyers are looking at all of their options and taking their time to make their decision. Homes are still selling and buyers are still buying.

For more information or a valuation on your home, please call me and I will be happy to assist you. If you think you may be ready to buy, call me and we can discuss you ability to buy and get the process started.