Real Estate in Durham with Sidetrips to Chapel Hill and elsewhere in the Triangle
Endangered Durham reminded us today that February 28 is the 130th birthday of Durham County. On this day in 1831, Orange and Wake counties were divided and Durham county was formed between them. Before 1831, the city of Durham was mainly known as a sleepy town and train station. Afterward it would be a county seat and eventually become the fourth largest city in North Carolina.
Happy Birthday, Durham!
One of the things that makes Durham great is that it has plenty of strong neighborhoods. From Eno Trace to Marydell to Parkwood to Hope Valley active neighborhoods and neighborhood associations have been one of the keys to strong sense of community and vitality of the Bull City.
Despite that, there has not been a website with a solid list of neighborhoods and how to reach them — until now. Earlier this month, Phillip Bost unveiled Durham Hoods, a semi-complete list of neighborhoods and their email mailing lists. Patrick believes that “Durham, NC is one of the top municipalities in terms of neighborhood electronic mailing lists per capita” and Durham Hoods is his attempt to prove it.
So, if you want to know from residents why Penrith [or most any other neighborhood] is a great place to live, Durham Hoods is a great place to start. If your neighborhood isn’t listed, let Patrick know. A good neighborhood contact list is an asset for all of us.
[edited to correct, Mr. Bost's first name.]
I don’t know about you, but I’m about done with winter. It’s cold, the snow is a pain, and houses don’t sell like they do in the Spring. Don’t believe me? Well, let’s look at the January numbers
For all of Durham County there were 2,080 homes listed for sale at the end of January – an increase of 8%. 156 sales closed in January, an drop of almost 20%. Using January figures, it would take 13.3 months to work through our current inventory which is an increase of 2.9 months. Compared to last 2010, however, this is a pretty big step forward [January 2010: 1,896 listings, 116 closings, adsorption rate 16.3]
In South Durham (*) 743 homes were listed for sale at the end of January. 47 sales closed in January, which means that it would take 15.8 Januarys to work our way through all the available homes.
To keep our 27713 comparisons for one final month — January 2011 listings: 457 compared to 422 in December and 335 in January 2010. January 2011 closings: 25 compared to 35 in December and 24 in January 2010. so our sales are consistent with last year, but we have more inventory to work through.
Why do sales drop in January? In many ways it is a mirror image of the problems in December. We said last month that people don’t like to close and move in December. Well, generally the holidays mean that they don’t have time to look at property either. That lack of shopping and making offers in December plays through as a lack of closings in January. If you want to see how the 2011 housing market is going to look in Durham, you’re going to have to wait for the February [and honestly, March] figures.
Here’s the updated neighborhood information, with some of our new neighborhoods.
| Total Available Listings | Total Closed Sales | Adsorption Rate [in months] | Avg Sale Price | |
| Woodcroft | 64 | 3 | 21.3 [+7.5] | $144,033
97% of list price |
| Hope Valley Farms | 56 | 5 | 11.2 [+3.6] | $201,680
95% of list price |
| Woodlake | 14 | 0 | N/A | N/A |
| Parkwood | 31 | 1 | 31 [+21.7] | $132,100
94% of list price |
| Chancellors Ridge | 15 | 0 | N/A | N/A |
| Grandale | 7 | 1 | 7.0 | $466,900
97% of list price |
| Audubon Park | 8 | 1 | 8.0 | $200,000
100% of list price |
| The Hills at Southpoint | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | $490,330
100% of list price |
As is usual in slow months, sales tend to congregate in the larger neighborhoods — Hope Valley Farms, Woodcroft and Parkwood [although Parkwood did not hold up its end in January]. The Hills at Southpoint also showed that there is some interest in new construction, which is a good sign for our local market.
Last month we said there would be some improvement in January 2011 compared to January 2010 — we saw that. Agents have also seen more activity in January. More properties are being shown and it feels like the market locally is improving. We’ll see in February and march whether these perceptions have any basis in reality. When we do, you’ll see it here.
(*) We’re defining “south Durham” as an area in the southern part of Durham County with roughly the following borders: Starting with the North – Cornwallis Road between 15-501 and NC55. NC55 up to Riddle Road and Riddle/Ellis over to the Durham Freeway. Then, the Durham Freeway down to the county line. West along the Durham/Chatham line, then north along the Durham/Orange line to 15-501. follow 15-501 to Cornwallis Road to complete the circle. If you are a local MLS geek, that is MLS areas 100 through 106 plus area 107A.
