Durham, called the City of Medicine, is the home of Duke University, the American Dance Festival, the Durham Bulls AAA baseball team, and Research Triangle Park (RTP), one of the world's best known business and research campuses. Many of the best known corporations and research entities have facilities in RTP including IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Nortel, Cisco, Lenovo, Sony Ericcson, Biogen, Bayer, BASF, NIEHS, and EPA among others.
The Triangle area (Durham-Raleigh-Chapel Hill) has received numerous accolades in the past few years. Recently both U.S. News and World Report and Relocate America chose Durham among their Top 10 Best Places to Live in June and July 2009 repectively. In November 2008 Forbes Magazine ranked Durham as #9 in the Best Educated Cities. In October 2008, Business Week called Durham the #3 Best Place to Ride Out a Recession. Durham-Chapel Hill which is now separate from Raleigh-Cary as a Metropolitan Statistical Area was selected the 7th best place for business and careers in the country in the May 2007 edition by Forbes Magazine.
Other awards include #1 Best Place to Live- MSN House and Home's Americas Places to Live in 2003, #1 Best Places for Education by Forbes in February 2003, and #3 U.S. Metro Area for Biotech and Life Sciences by the Milken Institute in June 2004. AARP Magazine called the area the 3rd Best Place for Retirees in June 2003 while Forbes.com called the Triangle the 4th Best Place for Singles in 2002.
Durham County is a growing community of approximately 256,000 residents of which about 218,000 live within the Durham city limits (Source-US Census). The median age in Durham is 31, while the median household income is $41,160 (Source-City-Data.com). Nearly 42% of Durham residents 25 or older hold Bachelor degrees or higher while 18.3% have graduate degrees.
Local Real Estate Market-
The Durham residential real estate market is showing some signs of recovery after experiencing significant declines over the past two years. Homes sales in Durham County continued a downward trend in the third quarter of 2009 that started in the second half of 2007, but the magnitude of the decline continues to lessen.
Sales of homes in Durham fell 9.3% in the third quarter when compared to 2008. However, home sales were down 15.6% in the second quarter after falling 33.8% from January-March when compared to the 1st quarter of 2008. This follows the calendar year 2008 when sales were down 29.1% when compared to 2007, from 4,707 to 3,335.
The number of home showings also reflects improvement in the Durham real estate market as showings were up 9.8% in the 3rd quarter 2009 when compared to 2008. This after showings were down significantly in 2008 when compared to 2007. (Source-Triangle MLS)
Despite soft sales home prices have held up relatively well with the average price of a home sold down slightly to $196,259 in 2008 from $198,452 in 2007, a decrease of 1.1%. The average price of homes sold in 2009 through the third quarter was $199,009 up 0.3% from prices through 3 quarters in 2008. The median price of homes sold through the third quarter was $174,000, up 0.6% from 2008 median prices through 3 quarters. (Source-Triangle MLS)
Here is a snapshot of Durham County home prices over the past four years.
The average price of new homes on the market as of Sept. 30, 2009 was $302,055. The average price for all homes on the market including resales as of Sept. 30, 2009 was $251,575 up 3.3% from Jan. 30, 2009 when the average price of all homes for sale in Durham County was $243,462. At the end 2008 the average price of speculative (new) homes on the market in Durham was $294,528 down 1.3% from $298,397 at the end of 2007.Resale homes make up aproximately 3/4 of the available inventory of homes. (Source=Triangle MLS)
Inventory of available homes in Durham County as of Oct. 15, 2009 had actually decreased 13.9% from Oct. 15, 2008 from 2,135 to 1,839. Based on sales YTD through September 2009, the inventory of homes stood at 7 months in Durham, the same as for the entire Triangle area. The decrease in inventory is directly related to new homes for sale as builders have tightened their belts and are building fewer speculative homes. The number of speculative new homes on the market in Durham decreased 35.3% from Sept. 2008 to Sept. 2009. (Source-Triangle MLS)
There was only a 6 month supply of homes in Durham as of December 31, 2008 based on average monthly sales YTD,compared to 7 months inventory for the Triangle as a whole. The supply of homes in the Triangle stood at 5 months at the end of 2007.
Inventory for homes priced below $300,000 stood at only 6 months while inventory of homes priced between $600,000-$800,000 stood at 15 months and inventory for homes price above $800,000 was 24 months. (Source-Triangle MLS)
The average days on market for active Durham homes was 86 days, while the average days on market for homes priced above $800,000 was 163 days. The average days on market for closed homes was 81 days versus 79 days in 2007(Source-Triangle Area MLS) indicating that homes in the lower price ranges and priced correctly were still moving.
According to figures released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in August 2009 housing prices in the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area decreased 0.92% for the twelve month period ending in June 2009 (-1.01% for the quarter) versus a negative 6.1% for the nation as a whole and negative 0.80% for the state of North Carolina.
Over the past twelve months home prices in the Durham Metropolitan Statisical area (MSA) ranked 111 out of 296 MSA's with at least 15,000 transactions over a 10 year period. Price appreciation in the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA for the past five years, however was up 20.17% versus 6.70% for the entire United States over the same period. Home prices in the Durham MSA have remained relatively stable because the area didn't see the rapid and unsustainable increases seen in other parts of the country.
The unemployment rate in the Durham MSA stood at 8.0% at end of September 2009, an improvement from the worst months of June and July 2009 when unemployment reached 8.4%. The unemployment rate stood 6.2% at the end of December 2008 and 3.8% at the end of December 2007. For the twelve month period ending in December, 2008 Durham County lost 2,941 jobs while the number of people hunting for jobs increased by 348 over the same period.
Unemployment rates for the state of N.C. stood at a seasonably adjusted rate of 10.8% at the end of September 2009 up from 8.7% at the end of December 2008. The unemployment rate for the nation as a whole stood at 9.8% at the end of June up from 7.1% at the end of December 2008. So while the unemployment rate for NC has gone well above the national average, the Durham County unemployment rate remains below national and state averages indicating a stronger than average though struggling local economy. (Source- Employment Security Commission of NC).
Slowing sales have created more of a buyers' market in Durham. The best homes, in terms of location, price and condition, still sell within a reasonable amount of time, but with a lower absorption rate for the available inventory of homes, and therefore increased competition in some segments and locations, it is taking longer to move some homes.
Sellers looking to put their home on the market need to understand that they must have the home in tiptop condition and priced correctly. For buyers, this is an excellent time to buy a home as inventory and thus choices are high while interest rates are still near historical lows. Meanwhile home prices in the area have held fairly steady, so there is no need to wait for lower prices that probably won't come.
Lending requirements have obviously been tightened in the midst of the current bank rescues and credit crises, but loans remain available for qualified buyers with good credit scores and a solid work history.
For additional information on Durham real estate or the Durham community please contact me at 919-536-0323 or email larry@larrypulley.com. Thanks and I look forward to assisting you.
ZIP Codes: 27701, 27703, 27704, 27705, 27707, 27712, 27713
About Larry Pulley:
A native of North Carolina and resident of the Triangle area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) for 39 years, Larry Pulley, Broker,GRI, e-PRO has a great fondness for his community. A full time Realtor since 1995, he has helped many people learn about the desirable characteristics and wonderful opportunities awaiting them in the heart of North Carolina.
Larry has lived in the Triangle area since attending school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill starting in 1970. A twenty year career in accounting after graduation in 1974 led to owning homes in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and now Durham (for the past 20 years), giving him a unique perspective of the diverse people, lifestyle and culture of the entire region.
Larry’s pledge to you is to provide the utmost in real estate service whether you are relocating to the area or a long time resident. He has a professional approach to business which means courteous, forthright and prompt attention to your needs. Use of the latest in real estate technology assures his clients are on the cutting edge. With an understanding that the sale or purchase of a home is an important financial decision he takes his role as an “agent” seriously, putting the interests of his clients first.
Let Larry help you with your next real estate transaction. You will be very pleased with the service received.
These reports reflect the views and opinions of their authors and are not necessarily the views and opinions of Realty Times.
