BY DAVID BRACKEN – DBRACKEN@NEWSOBSERVER.COM
The Triangle housing market continued its upward swing in the second quarter, with sales increasing 19 percent over the same period a year ago.
The results continue a trend that has been in place for months now: While the number of homes listed for sale in the region continues to fall, the number of sales occurring keeps steadily rising.
There were 5,721 homes sold in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties during the three months that ended June 30th, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.
Pending sales for the quarter were up 22 percent and showings increased 11 percent.
There were 9,495 homes listed for sale at the end of quarter, a 24 percent decline from the same period a year ago. The number of new homes on the market is now under 1,500 – a startlingly low number given that the Triangle had more than 4,000 new homes on the market just four years ago.
At the current pace of sales, the Triangle now has a five-month supply of homes on the market, compared to an 8-month supply during the second quarter of 2011.
The year-over-year increases in the second quarter were very similar to those recorded in the first quarter. The numbers are encouraging given that most real estate experts predicted that the monthly year-over-year gains would shrink as the year went on, in large part because sales early last year were particularly dismal.
June and July are traditionally the strongest months of the year for home sales. The Triangle recorded 2,167 home sales in June, which was 20 percent more than during the same month in 2011.
Pending sales in June accounted for 22 percent of the total for the quarter, up from 13 percent for the second quarter of 2011.