Denver, Mooresville And Statesville, NC Real Estate Blog

Friday, 15 May 2009

The pace of decline in Charlotte-area home sales and prices slowed in April.

The 1,773 houses, townhouses and condos sold last month was down 26 percent compared with April 2008, based on figures released this morning for transactions through the Carolina Multiple Listing Services. That breaks a six-month string of declines exceeding 30 percent and December's especially stark 47 percent drop.

Nationally, the housing market, while still down sharply from its peak, has shown signs of stabilizing, a step toward recovery.

Much of the regional gain came from a burst of sales in South Carolina's Lancaster County. Closings soared to 174, up from just 39 a year ago. The county includes Pulte Homes' Sun City Carolina Lakes, a huge active-adult community that has been relatively successful.

Mecklenburg County, which accounted for nearly half of MLS transactions, saw sales fall 37 percent from April 2008. That's an improvement over March, when sales were down 42 percent. Iredell, Lincoln and Union counties also saw steeper declines, while Cabarrus and Gaston fared better than the average.

The sales decline in York County, S.C., also was less than the region's average. S.C. results do not include all sales through another Realtors group in the area.

Overall, April sales were up compared with March, a typical uptick for the spring selling season.

The region's average selling price of $201,352 was down 9 percent compared with a year ago, but that was better than the previous three months' double-digit price declines.

Donna Anderson, president of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association, which operates the MLS, said she and other agents have seen activity pick up. Last weekend, for example, she said she had multiple offers on a listing. Anderson, a Realtor with Cottingham-Chalk/Bissell-Hayes, also is negotiating a deal.

“As Realtors, we have to stay ahead of the curve rather than dwell on what it was last year or several years ago,” she said. The Charlotte market is “showing gradual, consistent and positive improvement.”

POSTED BY: Todd HiIll AT 11:14 am | Permalink | E-mail this

Tuesday, 05 May 2009

Pending home sales up 3.2 percent in March

WASHINGTON There was another ray of hope Monday for the distressed housing market: the National Association of Realtors said the volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the second month in a row.

Homebuyers taking advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a tax credit for first-time buyers pushed the seasonally adjusted index of pending sales up by 3.2 percent to 84.6 in March.

The results not only beat analysts' flat expectations, but were also 1.1 percent above last year's levels, the first time that has happened since December.

"After nearly three years of freefall, housing activity may have found a floor," wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics in Toronto.

The index tracks signed contracts to purchase previously occupied homes. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future home sales.

Hopes have been growing that home sales, while still severely depressed, may be finally showing signs of life. Sales of newly built homes were flat in March while sales of existing homes edged down slightly.

But it's not all bright news out there.

Home prices are expected to keep falling for at least another year, though at a slowing pace. Tens of thousands of homes are tied up in the foreclosure process and not yet for sale. Plus, mounting job losses may keep many buyers from signing a contract for a home.

The Realtors estimate about half of existing home sales are now foreclosures and other must-sell transactions.

Nevertheless, many real estate agents are counting on an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers as their best hope for boosting flagging sales. That incentive was included in the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year.

"This increase could be the leading edge of first-time buyers responding to very favorable affordability conditions," and the tax credit, Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, said in a statement. "We need several months of sustained growth to demonstrate a recovery in housing, which is necessary for the overall economy to turn around."

Pending sales were up 8.5 percent in the South and nearly 4 percent in the West. They fell 5.7 percent in the Northeast and 1 percent in the Midwest.

POSTED BY: Todd Hill AT 03:05 pm | Permalink | E-mail this