Triangle home sales fall 8%

Triangle home sales were down 8 percent in August, according to data released Monday by the Triangle Multiple Listing Service.

Some 3,382 homes were sold in the area in the month, down from 3,688 in August 2006, MLS reported. Sales were down significantly year over year in Wake, Johnston and Durham counties, while Orange County sales were essentially unchanged, ticking upward to 199 from 196.

The decline represents a general trend in the Triangle, where home sales were also down 11 percent from July 2006 to July 2007 in a market where lenders have become wary about who they give loans to and buyers are leery of pulling the trigger on a deal.

Hammering home that point, MLS reported that the number of active residential listings was up nearly 20 percent year over year to 17,389.

The Wake Forest ZIP code 27587 continued its reign as the most active ZIP in the Triangle with 129 home sales in August.

The Southeast Raleigh ZIP of 27610 was No. 2 with 123 sales, while the Fuquay-Varina ZIP of 27526 was No. 3 with 118. Both ZIP codes have had high levels of foreclosure activity recently, as Triangle Business Journal discovered in a recent investigation.

Comments:
It is my feeling that part of the reason fewer homes have been sold is because prices have continued to rise in this area, pricing some buyers out of the market. Some have been scared away from buying due to the all the national media hype about the "slow down" in real estate sales and the mortgage "crisis."

Our market has remained stronger than many other markets, we may now be experiencing a trickle down affect from potential buyers who are unable to sell their homes in the market from which they are relocating.
By Ann Davis, Owner/Broker FOR HomeBUERS, Inc.