Today's Market; It Ain't Pretty

Durham Area Trends

Price Activity
Current Median Q3 201, for Durham 184,900 for the U.S as a whole $177,100
1 year appreciation for Durham .3% and for the U.S.-.6%
3 year appreciation for Durham -1.1% and for the U.S. -19.9%
3 year equity gain/loss, Durham -$2,000, and for the U.S.-$44,000

These figures come from NAR, the National Association of Realtors. Although median prices in the Durham, NC market are up slightly and are ahead of national median prices, it is important to understand that no market exists in a bubble. The Durham market is reliant on the U.S. market and the entire global economy. So, without equity as shown by the three year gain, or more accurately loss, home sales will remain sluggish simply because consumers don’t have the money to purchase homes. Consumer home equity is lost and will take years to recover.
Home owners can build faster equity in their homes if they make additional payments to principal, avoid borrowing against their properties and if they make cautious investments in enhancing their homes. Owners contemplating a home sale should gird themselves too; there should not be a presumption of appreciation but rather a presumption of a loss.
Similarly, owners considering a home sale should engage a real estate professional sooner rather than later to discuss merchandising their property, staging their property and enhancing their property so that it stands out among the competition.
Interested in doing so? Call me, Michael Sullivan, I’m always happy to walk through a property with an owner. I can also offer rental and leasing solutions to owners in a position to move in that direction.

The Rental Market

Renting and Leasing
According to CoStar Group, the #1 commercial real estate information group, almost every multifamily market saw strong leasing, rising demand and falling vacancy rates in the third quarter as the nations rental market continued a solid 2010 rally. As of now rentals should continue to surge over the next five years, with a growing supply of renters and very little new product in the planning and building pipeline.

Vacancy rates are above historical averages and in many multi-family communities robust incentives are being offered to move renters in. Still the national vacancy rate compiled from the 54 largest markets declined for a third straight quarter in 2010. Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Nashville and Dallas/Fort Worth have seen the highest demand and the sharpest decline in vacancy rates.

CoStar Group November 3, 2010