Good Monday morning! Was it hot or what this weekend!?! Ninety degrees in October… only in North Carolina. We’re suppose to be in the upper seventies to low eighties this time of year. The Raleigh area real estate market is behaving a bit like the weather too.
We are supposed to see inventory levels begin to drop as we go into the seasonally slower part of the year. Well, that isn’t happening. The inventory of homes listed for sale in Wake County is up 26% over the same period last year. The pending ratio is also down from last year. In Oct 2006 it was 27.5% and it is currently 18.5%. Here’s your data for this week.
If you’re planning to buy a home in the Raleigh area, the selection has never been better. Builders and sellers are looking at the same rising inventory levels and beginning to adjust pricing to remain competitive.
Of course you’d never know that by looking at the average listing prices on the chart above. It’s up over $100,000 year over year. Okay, so the average list price is up and so is inventory. How does that happen? I believe that it has much to do with builders making a conscious decision to build more expensive homes. Here’s a chart that supports my theory.
The local Raleigh real estate market has had a very high content of new construction for quite a while. And this is especially true now that builders are struggling in other areas of the country. Many of the national builders have started very high end projects in our area. So have the regional and local builders. Hasentree is one example of this.
The chart above shows how the percentage of inventory in Wake County that is new construction rises significantly as the price increases. Want a high end luxury home? Plenty of those to choose from right now as well.
In case you are looking to buy a home in the Raleigh area and don’t want to spend $500,000, don’t worry. Look at what is not shown in the chart. While 18% of our inventory is over $500,000, that leaves the balance, 82%, under that price point.
As a matter of fact, there are 1066 homes for sale in Wake County under $250,000 and 673 between $250–350K.
Give me a call, or email me if you want to find out how to use the current market conditions to your advantage to buy or sell a home in the Raleigh area.
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Bob – Thanks for great up to date info on the Raleigh Real Estate market – home buyers and sellers need this info to make timely offers and counteroffers in todays market.-Cyndee Haydon