Wake County February Sales Report

February home sales in Wake County were up 205 from January to 1053 and homes under contract remained steady at just over 1200.

Although down slightly from February of 2007 these number look great and there is a lot of data to show this spring and summer should be fantastic form home buyers and sellers.

1. The “under contract” homes have exceeded the closed units; by 400 in January and 200 in February showing good month to month growth, statically there are 1600 homes still under contract at this time in Wake County.
2. Interest Rates are fantastic, this morning Wells Fargo was publishing a 5.75% 30 year fixed rate mortgage.
3. Sales in the North East were up 11% last month, this should spur demand in our area as many buyers are waiting to sell their homes “back there” to buy locally
4. Prices are holding very steady. Average sales price county wide last year was $260,000 in February and it was $261,000 in February of 2008.
5. A lot of builders are “blowing out” inventory at very low prices, this may create a short term inconvenience for sellers in newer subdivisions, but this will in no way be a long term problem. It is a great opportunity for buyers. This will cause inventory to shrink as demand should fundamentally increase.

The bottom line is sellers need to be aware of the competitive environment that 8.2 months of inventory will bring to prices, buyers act now as summer will bring higher prices (it does every year) and homeowners and buyers need to be aware of the amazing opportunities that a sub 6% 30 year mortgage offers to affordability, and 15 loans in the low 5% range do for their financial future.