North Carolina's capital city, Raleigh has suffered with the rest of the country amidst the downturn in the U.S. housing market, seeing an overall increase in foreclosure, a drop in home values and a buildup of excess inventory. The market for real estate in Raleigh is steadying in recent months, if not back at highs.
Sales volume has seen an increase, as many hesitant buyers have been urged into the market with the government's stimulus plan to offer up to $8,000 in tax rebates to qualified buyers encouraging them on. According to the North Carolina Association of Realtors, sales volume in the triangle area of Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area was up by 6% year over year in September. Average costs, however, were down by 14%, as is the case in many markets, a worse performance than the overall state average, which was down just by 7%.
According to the Triangle Multiple Listing Service data, pending sales in Raleigh for September were up 11% from pending sales in 2008 for the month. For the year to date, however, pending sales are on pace to be below 2008 volume by more than 13%. Homes for sale in Raleigh that closed in September was actually down by 9.1% from September 2008 figures, and off by 23.8% from September 2007 figures.
Raleigh real estate is also spending a longer time on the market before moving, on average. In September, Raleigh homes were spending 101 days on the market before being sold on average, an increase of 12.4% from September 2008, and increase of more than 30% from September 2007. Likewise, the inventory supply also is up, with September holding a 9.5 months' supply, up from just 8.9 months in September 2008 and 6.3 months in September 2007.