Why the Raleigh Real Estate Market is #1 in the Nation
August 19th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate Market Trends, Why Move to Raleigh?
An article on Forbes.com from late June declared Raleigh, North Carolina as the number one home seller’s market in the US. Their determination was based on three metrics.
- A measure of current inventory. This is simple a supply and demand analysis which Forbes based on numbers from the National Association of Realtors and Moody’s Economy. Current inventory is the measurement of how long it would take to sell all currently listed homes at the current sales rate. According to Forbes, the Raleigh real estate market is number one in the nation in this category.
- The change in the sales rate over the past year.
- Price stability. This was considered as a way to exclude upstart markets and only include real estate markets with steady, sustainable home values.
The Forbes article cited Raleigh’s strong economy, moderate growth, and carefully paced building as key factors in the high ranking. So how does this stack up compared to a local Realtor’s opinion of things? Let’s start by looking at current inventory.
With the number of current listings in Raleigh at 3850, the current inventory is about 4 months. As you can see in the chart, it varies slightly depending on whether we use the stats for July home sales or 2nd quarter of ‘07.
We can also look at the change in average sell price by comparing activity for the second quarter of this year with the same quarter of 2006.
Average Sell Price Comparison
Q206 $245,849
Q207 $254,124
The average sell price has increased $8,275, or 3.4% by this comparison. Keep in mind that the 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2006 were above average with closed sales of 2,889 and 2,952 respectively. Actual resale appreciation, which is different than increase in average sell price, was closer to 5%.
My conclusion is that we do indeed have a very good home seller’s market here in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s growing at a normal pace that allows home sellers to make a good return for their investment and home buyers to get into a healthy real estate market with very good opportunities for future growth.
I think the major reason it continues to be so steady is we have never had the sharp run up in prices that much of the rest of the nation has experienced. Overall, we are keeping pace with affordability.
If you’re interested in selling your home click here and submit a request for a free home value analysis.
Related Articles
The Impact of a Slow Market Somewhere Else on Raleigh Home Sales
North Raleigh Real Estate Market Snapshot
[...] The Raleigh real estate market is very good right now. Forbes magazine reports that Raleigh is the #1 seller’s market in the country. Well prepared, professionally marketed Raleigh homes that are accurately priced are easily selling in 4-6 weeks. Some even quicker. Let’s talk about why the ability of Raleigh home buyers to obtain financing changes things for sellers. [...]
[...] Raleigh has benefited from a very normal real estate market and avoided the excessive increases in value that are now wreaking havoc on major markets across the country. Will this increased transfer tax single handedly cause home values in Raleigh to increase out of control? Probably not, but why throw another log on the fire? Just the fact that our market is doing so good right now and attracting so many people who want to relocate to Raleigh is pressure enough on home prices. People we simply do not need this tax! [...]