I’ve talked to several real estate brokers over the past month who have observed a market stall during October — fewer showings, fewer offers and generally less excitement about the market. Do the numbers support their observations? Let’s take a look.
For all of Durham County there were 1871 houses listed at the end of October. 228 sales closed in October, so at that pace the currently available inventory would be sold in 8.2 months. This is a drop of 1.6 months of inventory, which brings us back to the level we were at in August. Not the glory days we had in June/July, but
still some good solid numbers.
For the 27713 area code there were 344 homes listed at the end of October. 55 homes sold during October, so the current listings would be sold through in 6.3 months. Again, this pulls us back to the levels we were seeing in August, and makes the South Durham market fairly balanced. Can we get back to the brief seller’s market of the summer? Probably not this year, as sales during November/December are traditionally slow. Staying here, however, would be pretty good.
Here’s a look at the communities we’re tracking. If you would like to see data from your community, please let us know in the comments.
|
Total Available
Listings |
Total Closed
Sales |
Adsorption Rate |
Avg Sale Price |
| Woodcroft |
39
|
5
|
7.8 |
$122,200
94% of list price |
| Hope Valley Farms |
48
|
8
|
6.0 |
$202,154
98% of list price |
| Woodlake |
6
|
3
|
2.0 |
$191,833
99% of list price |
| Parkwood |
19
|
6
|
3.2 |
$116,449
95% of list price |
| Chancellors Ridge |
12
|
2
|
6.0 |
$184,500
94% of list price |
| Colvard Farms |
13
|
0
|
N/A |
N/A |
Again, once you get past the top 3 developments, sales are spread out greatly with 32 subdivisions reporting at least one sale in October. Woodcroft, which was a shining star for much of the year, is stubbornly stuck in the 7s [I
had expected it to drop towards the 5s two months ago]. This also is the second month in a row that no sales were recorded in Colvard Farms.
As of today, the $8,000 first time homebuyers’ credit is set to expire on November 30. To take advantage under the current rules, almost all buyers would already have a home under contract. This would imply that November sales would be strong. Pending sales figures seem to support this, but we will see how many of those pending sales close in November. There is also news about an extension of the credit, but that is for another post.
[Data for this post was pulled from the Triangle Multiple Listing Service on November 1 at about 9:00 AM]
Earlier today, the National Association of Realtors released their Local Market Report for the Durham market covering the 4th Quarter of last year. There is a ton of information in the charts and graphs, but the executive summary is that the Durham market has been holding its own better than the national average, but the unemployment situation [which is worse than the national average] clouds any future projections. Go, take a look at the NAR figures and tell us what you think.
For those of you who won’t take my word for it, the Triangle Multiple Listing Service released their 
