The North Carolina real estate market is among the most volatile and unpredictable in the Southern United States. One thing is clear, however - North Carolina is still in deep financial trouble in addition to being home to thousands of foreclosed properties. Throughout the Palmetto State, North Carolina real estate is in extremely bad shape, and has been showing only limited signs of recovery in recent months. It is difficult to determine which parts of the real estate market are faring well, since the differences between commercial and residential, industrial and other land are considerable and tend to confound any attempts to draw comparison between the different components. Some parts of North Carolina real estate are also artificially depressed or inflated by other parts of the market, making it even more challenging to properly analyze the situation.
According to News Station WXII 12, which serves Winston-Salem in North Carolina, “There are now 3,175 foreclosed homes in North Carolina, and the number is up just as things seemed to be getting better. Local realtors said, until the job market stabilizes, the housing market will remain in flux.” The article continued to describe some of the reasons behind the spike in foreclosures, including the higher numbers of unemployed individuals without benefits, an apparent failure by the government to prevent further foreclosures, and a lack of good jobs. News 14, another North Carolina television station, provided another perspective on the foreclosure issues facing North Carolina real estate.
“More than 12,000 North Carolina homes fell to foreclosure over the first six months of this year. That's a 26 percent improvement from the last six months of 2008, according to RealtyyTrac. However, from May to June, the number of families losing their homes spiked 23 percent.” The foreclosure problem has reached such large proportions that the North Carolina state legislature has been taking aggressive action specifically to attempt to reduce the number of foreclosures in the future. The higher number of foreclosures is one possible explanation for the apparently contradictory rise in home sales reported by the New York Times for much of the South, including North Carolina.