Triangle Multiple Listing’s Monthly Indicators for July 2014

Buoyed by stable and continuously lower interest rates, housing affordability is still historically high yet below its all-time peak.

FOR HomeBUYERS, an Exclusive Buyer Only Real Estate Agency, is providing this article from the Triangle Multiple Listing Service that serves 16 counties around the Triangle North Carolina region. FOR HomeBUYERS represents only buyers throughout the 16 county TMLS area and can show you any home listed with TMLS.

Although low supply and tight credit standards are still hurdles to recovery, prices continue to rise in most local areas. Job growth has strengthened lately, but wage growth has not kept pace with the price gains we have seen. Buoyed by stable and continuously lower interest rates, affordability is still historically high yet below its all-time peak. Rising inventory levels will lead to more choices for qualified buyers, but as the summer reaches toward fall, the prospect of more homes coming on the market begins to wane.
New Listings in the Triangle region increased 6.9 percent to 3,820. Pending Sales were up 5.9 percent to 3,049. Inventory levels fell 0.8 percent to 14,372 units.

Prices forged onward. The Median Sales Price increased 3.1 percent to $210,000. Days on Market was down 5.3 percent to 89 days. Absorption rates improved as Months Supply of Inventory was down 8.9 percent to 5.7 months.

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that GDP grew at a 4.0 percent annual rate in the second quarter and that the first quarter was less bad than previously thought. Consumer spending in the first quarter rose 2.5 percent, which is encouragingly in tandem with savings rates. Increased consumer spending means more demand for goods and labor; increased savings rates means more resources for downpayments. With rates still low, rents still rising and private job growth accelerating, it’s becoming more and more difficult to side with the housing perma-bears.