The Triangle Area Residential Real Estate (TARR) Report has just come out with the figures for 4th Quarter and a retrospective on 2012. Things are looking up! As you can see from the graph below, Wake County home sales in 2012 were the highest since 2008.
Looking just at Q4 2012 vs Q4 2011, showings were up 15% while inventory was down 32%. Distressed inventory (short sales and foreclosures) was down 32% and now accounts for 9% of total inventory, down from 10% at the end of 2011.
Home prices fell 9.5% during the recession, but did tick slightly upward in 2012 — only 1.4% upward, but still upward. The Law of Supply and Demand always rules, so we can expect to see home prices continue to improve, modestly, during 2013.
On the half-empty side, total sales in 2013 were still only 65% of what they were in 2005, when credit was easy and home prices only went up. Happy days are not here again, not yet. But we are definitely feeling more cheerful!
ADVENTURES IN REAL ESTATE 
Leave a comment