All the presents at the BCRE household have been put away, the tree has been, um, “retired,” and we are as ready as we are going to get to move into 2012, which is good since we don’t have a lot of choice. The last few months have been pretty decent for Durham real estate. Let’s see if we’re continuing to lay a good foundation for 2012.
When the ball dropped this morning, there were 1,617 homes available for sale in Durham County — a drop of just over 200 listings and a decline of about 15% since November 1. Again, this is not surprising, as many people take their homes off the market over the holidays. December saw 189 closings – an increase of 16 closings, which takes us back to the closing numbers of two months ago. Using December sales, we would sell our entire inventory of available homes in 8.6 months, which is an improvement of almost two months from November’s stat.
In South Durham 526 homes were listed for sale at the end of December – a drop of 85 homes and a total decline of about 25% from November 1. 52 sales closed in December, which is a drop of nine closings and, again, a drop of about 25% from November’s data. those equal drops leave the adsorption rate unchanged at 10.0 months, which makes it basically unchanged for three months in a row. It also makes December one of those unusual months where south Durham underperforms the county as a whole.
Here’s the updated neighborhood information.
|
Total Available Listings |
Total Closed Sales |
Adsorption Rate [in months] |
Avg Sale Price |
Average Price per SF
|
| Woodcroft |
38 |
6 |
6.3 [-10.0] |
$160,833 |
$93 |
| Hope Valley Farms |
49 |
1 |
49 [+40.2] |
$199,900 |
$108 |
| Woodlake |
10 |
1 |
10.0 [0.0] |
$165,000 |
$133 |
| Parkwood |
15 |
3 |
5.0 [-1.1] |
$128,633 |
$90 |
| Chancellors Ridge |
11 |
2 |
5.5 [0.0] |
$349,500 |
$95 |
| Grandale |
3 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Audubon Park |
9 |
2 |
4.5 [-9.5] |
$185,500 |
$92 |
| Falconbridge |
7 |
1 |
7.0 [+3.0] |
$245,500 |
$125 |
| Fairfield |
11 |
2 |
5.5 |
$253,750 |
$125 |
| Lochside |
6 |
1 |
6.0 |
$173,000 |
$131 |
| Davis Park |
14 |
5 |
2.8 |
$129,520 |
$119 |
| Marydell Estates |
1 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
We’ve decided to track price per square foot in 2012 instead of sales price as a percentage of list price. For some overall numbers, the average in south Durham was $105 per sf with the highest neighborhoods being Villas at Culp Arbor [1 sale at $181 per sf], Windsor Commons [1 sale at $147 per sf], and Woodlake [1 sale at $133 per sf]. the lowest neighborhoods were Cedar Valley [1 foreclosure sold at $58 per sf], Darby Glen [1 sale at $74 per sf], and Stratford Lakes [3 sales at $89 per sf]
Again we saw a month of decent numbers showing both strength and the traditional winter declines. I’m hopeful that these figures for November and December signal that we have found a floor to build off of in 2012. January will probably show something similar, especially in the first half of the month, with more sellers starting to return to the market in the last half of January and into February. Weather might also have a role to play as a series of snow and ice events will move the numbers.
Now is a good time to lay the foundations of your own real estate plans for 2012. Whether you are buying or selling, preparation now will lead to opportunities for success later in the year. If you would like to hear more about where the market is heading, or just want to know what your own home is worth, please send me an email and we’ll gladly get started. Happy New Year!
