Business
Email
Print
Local sales of homes still grow
Increases reported for 5th consecutive month
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 25, 2009
Sales of local existing homes grew for the fifth consecutive month, the Winston-Salem Regional Association of Realtors reported yesterday.
However, area real-estate officials are not ready to declare a recovery.
That's because even though 433 existing homes were sold during May -- up 34 percent compared with April -- the volume is still down 20 percent from the 543 homes bought in May 2008.
"It's still up in the air whether we have hit a bottom or not," said Charles "Bud" Palmer III, the vice president of marketing and business development for general contractor Shelco Inc.
"Prices have come down to where there are bargains in many residential communities. Lower interest rates and the federal tax credits have stirred and renewed interest among many homeowners."
On the flip side, Palmer said, the sharp rise in the local unemployment rate in the past year continues to deter some potential buyers. The Forsyth County jobless rate was 9.2 percent in April. The May rate will be reported Friday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission.
Phillip Rector, of Mundy Realty and the president of the association, said it is not uncommon for home sales to increase month over month during the first half of the year.
The average sales price in the Winston-Salem region was $164,117, up from $144,609 in April but down from $173,201 in May 2008.
"While we are not out of the woods yet, we continue to be encouraged by the monthly strengthening of the housing market," Rector said.
"Ordinarily, you see home sales increase as prices drop, but in this case, we are seeing home sales and prices climb. That would imply that the market has adjusted, its prices have found a bottom, and is now ready to accelerate in the months ahead."
Ray Collins, the president of Collins Commercial Properties Inc., said he believes that some of the recent growth comes from consumers deciding that their patience has been rewarded by lower home prices and mortgage rates.
"There's also a newfound uptick in consumer confidence about the economy," Collins said.
"We may still bounce once or twice along the way, but I believe we may have hit a bottom with the local housing market."
Separately, a local report by Michael S. Clapp & Associates Inc., a Winston-Salem real-estate appraisal company, found that there was a 35.7 percent decrease in overall home sales in a five-county area from Jan. 1 through April 30.
There were 1,272 homes sold in Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties at an average price of $151,940.
By comparison, there were 1,977 homes sold during the first four months of 2008 at an average price of $168,803.
New listings, which are a supply indicator, fell 19 percent to 4,057 during the first four months of this year. The Triad Multiple Listing Service showed 5,388 active listings in the five counties on June 6.
"Certainly, the supply of housing units far exceeds demand, with the net result being significantly longer marketing periods and downward pressure on prices," Clapp said.
■ Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
