6020 Creedmoor Road, Raleigh, NC 27612 ~ Cell: (919) 280-2726 ~ Erin@HomesInRaleigh.org

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Raleigh Housing Market
December 2012

Homes in Wake County
Data from Triangle Multiple Listing Service

Closed Sales
Average Sales Price
Average Days On Market Until Sale
Number of Homes For Sale

Year
2011
866
$258,858
117
6,510

Year
2012
1,152
$255,173
105
5,147

Annual
Change
+33.0%
-1.4%
-10.1%
-20.9%

Happy Holidays to All - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

• Raleigh home sales continue to rise, up by 33% over last December.
• It took, on average, 12 days less to sell a home in Raleigh this December as last year.
• Inventory continues to be low with a decrease of almost 30% decrease from last year's homes for sale.

2012 Finishing Strong with December Starting off Very Busy

December came in with a surprising rush! Offers were flying left and right. Wow, who would have expected it? December is usually pretty tame especially the last 2 weeks. However, this year we got slammed early and it continued right through the end of the year with our last closing on December 28th!

The low inventory of homes for sale is not unique to Raleigh - it is occurring nationally. There are a host of theories as to why this is occurring and much of the attention is on two specific groups of homeowners.

The first group is that of home owners who are underwater. These are folks who owe more than their homes are worth. Most of these homeowners have not been able to keep up with their mortgage payments. Their homes, probably, will eventually be sold as either a short sale (sold by a lender's agreement at a price "short" of what is owed) or as a foreclosure.

The second group, on a nationwide basis, has been comprised of homeowners who actually have owed less than their homes are worth. The problem has been that it is not enough less to afford them enough extra money, once they sell that home, for a down-payment on a different home. The result has been that these folks have decided to wait because they feel that home values will go up.

That may be the case nationwide. It's a somewhat different story in Raleigh. Home values in the Raleigh area have improved month by month over the last several months. How can we determine that Raleigh home values have improved? It's by determining what sellers are actually selling their homes for. It's not what price they are asking, but instead, how much people are paying. The following will give you an idea of what we are talking about. These are the monthly percentage increases over the previous year during the last six months.

July +2%, August +2.7%, September +2.4 %, October +3.4%, November +4.6%, and, as you can see, a slight dip in December at -1.4%. Overall, during the last half of last year, there was a steady and overall increase each month.

In addition, the number of homes sold in Raleigh each month, has increased for 15 months in a row! So, again, we have two escalators. The sales escalator keeps going up. The second escalator, of homes being placed on the market, going down. This means that prices will continue to increase. It's simply the law of supply and demand.

If you have a home which you've been debating putting up for sale, you have two things going for you. First, placing your home into a market with less competition can be very beneficial. The average days on market is only slightly over three months. That is excellent. Second, prices are going up. Now is the time to ask for a Comparative Marketing Analysis (CMA) to see just what your home might be worth. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Low inventory is the order of the day and in a strange way it is working out for both sides. We are expecting a robust 2013 with positive trends continuing to evidence themselves in all aspects of life as we take a collective sigh of relief.

We wish you all the happiest New Year.

Feel free to contact us with your questions. We're easy to talk to and we can answer any questions you might have about current market conditions, interest rates or where Raleigh home prices are headed. If you're interested in talking about listing your home we'd be happy to provide our recommendations on how best to proceed to market your home.

We'll also provide you with a Raleigh Neighborhood Report that will let you know what has been happening with home sales in your individual neighborhood.

The Raleigh Housing Market Reports below will give you a detailed look inside the current and past Raleigh Area Housing Market.

If you have questions about the Raleigh Real Estate Market,
or what your Raleigh home is worth Email Us or Call Us Today at 919-280-2726

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