Durham Housing Market Stats Are Looking Grim

Durham, North Carolina is one city in NC that has been affected by the housing market crisis that is a trend affecting major cities, as well as, smaller cities across the country. The economy is really sluggish and there seems to be no end in sight. Homeowners that want to put their house on the market through a real estate agent might be likely to change their minds after they read what the Durham housing market beholds.

Home sales are down so far this year from the middle of 2008 from over one thousand homes sold per month in the middle of last to around seven hundred and fifty sold for the month of February. That decrease in sales shows that either buyers' don't have the funding because the big lenders are sinking and tightening up their lending criteria or buyers are falling out of the market due to huge job loss.

Homeowners need to know that although home sales are down that is only part of the problem, the other problem is that the sales price for homes sold in Durham are down as well. The numbers show that home values in the area are low as they have been since the real estate boom in 2001. The average sales price for the month of February is around $144,000 right in line with 2001 and the middle of 2008 shows the average sales price was around $174,000. Less than one year later home values have dropped $30,000. These numbers are from sales of real estate agents and brokers.

Selling a home through a real estate agent in Durham according to the numbers is not such a good idea. Not only have home values dropped by over the past five years a 3 bedroom home is going for $10,000 less than five years ago, from $145,000 then to $135,000 between November and January.

Homeowners that need to sell their house fast might want to try other options that may be available instead of selling their house through a real estate agent that isn't going to get their house sold fast for the right price. In this current market a homeowners that needs a fast sale might not get what they are looking for so they might want to become creative to at least get the burden of their house off their hands.

The Time is Now For Building a New House

The supply of General Contractors and the price of building supplies make this the perfect time to build the home of your dreams.

If there is one good thing that has come from the Real Estate downturn is that General Contractors are looking for work. A far cry from 2006, when a builder was hard to find that had time to build a custom home. Now is a great time to find a builder to suit your custom home needs.

Contractors aren't the only thing sitting around. The materials like lumber, blocks and roofing are in abundance and the prices are good too. Finding a bargain should be easy if you act soon. By the end of this year, this could all begin to go away...again.

In the Tampa Bay area, with new home sales plummeting, you have your pick of the contractors that you want to build your house. Take a drive in any direction and you can see cleared lots that have grown over. You also see signs in front of model homes begging you to stop in.

Shop around for the ones that most strike your fancy. Take the model home tour with them as well. You might even find one of those that you like, or one that is fully customizable too. Either way, finding one that isn't busy is much simpler now than it has for a very long time.

There is an upside to the stagnant new home sector of the real estate market here in the Tampa Bay area, and that is the shoddy builders have packed their wares and gone away. Today, only the strongest, most reputable contractors are still in business. So you can be fairly assured that you will be dealing with a Certified General Contractor.

The other side to the 2-sided coin is that building supplies are in less demand so that the prices have come back down some. They haven't come down all the way, and probably won't go much further, but they are plentiful. Shop this around too. Go to all the local lumber yards and the big box home improvement centers to compare.

Finding a home builder that will meet your needs should be easier now than ever. You still have to do your due diligence to check them out. But you will find that almost all of the really good ones are still here and ready to work. They will give you what you want, and that is great, friendly, cost and time effective customer service.

If a recession teaches us anything, it is how to treat one another professionally. Having a job and keeping a job are commodities that are a rarity as well. So those that have them want to keep them so they will treat customers with more respect. It is a business model we should adhere to all the time, not just when times are tough.

The bottom line is this. While you might not find the existing home of your dreams on the market today. In the Tampa Bay area real estate market, finding a contractor to build one for you is simpler now than it has been for a very long time. Don't expect this trend to continue too long past 2009, as the markets will have begun the upward swing and this supply of not so busy contractors will begin to dwindle. Shop and compare, and you will find what and who you are looking for. And soon you will be on the inside looking out!