local home sale plunge (Raleigh, Durham: sales, real estate, apartment)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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There is an article on today's Newsobserver.newsobserver.com | Local home sales plunge (http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/958890.html - broken link)
One bright spot is house prices, which have continued to rise during the slowdown. The average sales price in January was $233,236, up 3.6 percent from a year ago, according to Triangle Multiple Listing Service.
Careful on interpreting the data especially on the average price rising. What that could mean is the higher priced houses are selling better than the lower price houses. This drives the average up.
Even with the numbers presented in the article I still can't think of a better housing market to be in at the moment as a buyer wanting to move to this area!
Yeah, pricing data is tough to make any sense of using a small time window. Average price was up this month, but down last month. Median price for Wake down about 2% compared to last year (and off over 12% from the summer peak before the beginnings of the credit meltdown). What does this mean for any particular house price? I wish I could tell you. OFHEO price index for Q4'07 is due out next week which will add even more data to the mix.
I do know that the Triangle MLS doesn't apply inflation adjustments to their numbers, so a 3.6% gain is negative appreciation in real dollar value.
And objectively, there are a number of areas doing better than us. We're better than some, worse than areas like Austin or Seattle. Or reverse that if you're a buyer looking for an affordable house. Down markets aren't inherently bad unless you ignored everyone's advice and bought at the peak.
Even with the numbers presented in the article I still can't think of a better housing market to be in at the moment as a buyer wanting to move to this area!
Yup! I hope the sellers of the house I'm going to look at today read this article this morning!
I would like to hear what the real estate agents have to say about this.
They will say that stats can be misleading and the market is picking up here
By and large, I wonder if number of sales or average price is a better indicator of the market conditions - I'd tend to think the former but I am no expert.
used by both sides in a debate and made to look totaly different depending on the spin, so I am wary of paying too much attention to them unless I know the context and how they were derived. Nevertheless, we are definitely slower than last year at the same time. Keep in mind, though, that last year was a record breaker by far, as was the year 2006.
Until the larger companies sniffed out Raleigh, our local builders kept busy and maintained a fairly even supply. Large companies did create housing that was cheaper and more plentiful and for a while, we could sustain the increase. With the current financial scandal (It isn't the first and it won't be the last) many people who WANT to buy homes are hanging back, waiting to "see what will happen". That has certainly added to the problem.
I am very glad that the risky practices of the mortgage industry have come to light, I just wish it could have been some other way.
This "market correction" will affect us no matter what. We have a high proportion of first time home buyers in the Triangle and it is harder for them to get loans. That "trickles up" as the sellers of those homes have a harder time moving up. We have many people who are moving here from out of state where they cannot sell their existing home. The last straw is the lack of confidence, which is a problem in and of itself.
Interestingly enough, this is the absolute best time to buy. Prices may not have dropped like a rock, but you can bet they will be going up handily when this cycle is over. I am getting ready to buy another property myself. I know that it is one of the best long range investments possible. I do not care if "the price goes lower" next year. If I could buy IBM stock at a good price today, I am not going to sit around and wait for it to go a few dollars lower. I am snagging it now. Did anyone see the article in "Time" about this very thing?
I would like to hear what the real estate agents have to say about this.
The BEST ADVICE that I can give anyone is that if you are moving here and you have a job and you have a family, you need a HOME.
A home can be a house or an apartment.
However, if you are buying a house in this area...Wake County, Johnston County or Durham County, PRICE DEPENDS ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
I can't say it enough. I see it every day. One neighborhood has houses that sell the first week they are on the market, for asking price.
Another neighborhood has houses that set on the market for months.
DO YOUR RESEARCH BASED ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD, not what the statistics say.
Vicki
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The same statistics are often...
