Realtors buoyed by sales of homes

Local market shows progress, they say By Fran Daniel

By: Fran Daniel | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: February 03, 2010

Sales of existing homes in Forsyth County in December slipped 17.4 percent from November but were up from December 2008.

Month to month, sales were 341 in December 2009, compared with 413 the month before, according to the Winston-Salem Regional Association of Realtors. The number of sales jumped 5 percent in December 2009, from 326 in December 2008. This past December, the average sales price rose 2.5 percent to $162,645 from $158,617 in November 2009, but dropped 1 percent from $163,688 in December 2008.

Association officials said they were happy that December's sales were up 5 percent over the previous year, since some housing markets in the country have shown a slight decline. They also found encouragement in the slight increase in the average sales price from November to December.

"These numbers continue to show a couple of interesting things in the Winston-Salem region," said George Bell, the president of the Winston-Salem Realtors. "First, buyers continue to see now as an excellent time to buy -- while inventories are high, interest rates are at historic lows, and tax incentives have been expanded from just first-time buyers to include all buyers."

Bell also said that the local housing market is continuing to improve, as demonstrated by the growth in sales and steady or slightly rising prices.

The association expects more strength in sales of existing homes in the first and second quarters of this year.

In the Triad, 833 existing homes were sold in December, up 7 percent from 780 in December 2008, according to the N.C. Association of Realtors. But sales dropped 20 percent in December, compared with 1,043 in November 2009.

Total existing-home sales in the Triad in 2009 fell 14 percent to 10,920, compared with 12,757 in 2008. The average sales price fell 8 percent to $158,333.

The N.C. Association of Realtors considers the Triad as an 11-county region for purposes of the Multiple Listing Service.

For Wilkes County, which has its own category, there were 22 homes sold in December, compared with 20 in December 2008 and 17 in November 2009. Wilkes had sales of 268 existing homes in 2009, compared with 261 in 2008.

In North Carolina, sales grew 29 percent to 6,087 in December 2009 from 5,120 in December 2008. Month to month, sales were down 19 percent in December 2009 from 7,511 in November 2009.

Overall, statewide sales in 2009 reached 81,259, a 12 percent drop from 92,435 in 2008. The average sales price dropped 7 percent to $200,606.

Jerry Herman, the executive vice president for the Home Builders Association of Winston-Salem, said that low-priced houses are moving the quickest, especially those bought by people who are taking advantage of tax credits for first-time homebuyers.

At Coldwell Banker Triad Realtors, overall sales in the Triad were good in November but flat in December, said Jodi Tate, the company's general manager.

But, Tate said, "what I'm hearing around our seven offices is that Jan. 1 rolled in, and it seemed like the doors opened and the phones started ringing. So we are seeing a lot more activity, a lot more appointments being made to look at properties."

fdaniel@wsjournal.com

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