Monday Morning Real Estate Update - Expanded Coverage
September 24th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate Market Trends
Here’s your Monday Morning Update and I’ve expanded the areas that are covered. The new chart below contains stats on all of Wake County with break out numbers for the areas where I spend most of my time helping clients buy and sell homes.
This new chart will give a larger picture (all homes for sale in Wake County) and more detail than just Raleigh. It will also give you an idea of the relative sizes of all the sub-markets that make up the greater Raleigh real estate market.
One thing you might be interested in is the change in inventory levels, active listings and prices during the past year. The chart below shows the changes in these three important metrics over the past year.
So what does this mean if you are trying to buy a home in the Raleigh area?
For one thing, the selection is better than ever! Finding just the right home for my clients has become easier and more fun. Prices are certainly higher now than they were one year ago. However, prices are not 28% higher as the chart would indicate at first glance.
This chart simply compares the difference in average list price between now and one year ago. The large increase shown above has much to do with the fact that our market is 40% new construction. Right now there are many high end neighborhoods going up all over the Raleigh area. Simply put, builders have focused on higher price points and since that is such a large component of the total market, the average list price is higher now.
Just so you’ll know, there are currently 662 homes for sale in the Raleigh area between $250,000 and $350,000. There are 395 between $200,000 and $250,000. We can find you a home regardless of what your price point is.
And how about people trying to sell a home in the Raleigh area?
There is more inventory. And more inventory typically means longer market times and more pressure to lower prices. Even so, the market still slightly favors sellers over buyers right now. An economist would tell you that increasing inventory with a supply of less than 6 months means that the market is able to absorb the increase. Market times have increased some. That’s right where we are now.
The bottom line is homes that are priced accurately, well prepared and professionally marketed are still moving in 60–90 days. Hardly any reason for panic.
At the same time, don’t get too excited about the 28% increase in average list price either. Read the paragraph about buying a home in the Raleigh area again. The real resale appreciation is at about 5% for the year. This is a good, healthy and sustainable number.
I still firmly believe that one of the biggest challenges we are faced with is the slow down in the number of people relocating to Raleigh. The demand is still strong among people who want to relocate here. However, many of them are still struggling with selling their homes in various markets around the country. Most people need their equity to buy a home when they get here.
If you want to search homes for sale in the Raleigh area, click here. If you are interested in discussing exactly how the current market conditions might affect your plans to buy or sell a home in the Raleigh area, just give me a call at 919–602–7000, or send me an email.
Have an awesome week!
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