New Bern NC: New Bern Home Sales-2015 year to date

Sunday, March 08, 2015

New Bern Home Sales-2015 year to date

Has the crazy weather put a damper on housing sales in New Bern?

Let's take a look

Home sales-January 1-February 28 2015

Total sales=160

Average sales price=$157,553

Average days on Market=193

Bank owned sales=57-"Ouch" Way to many

Home sales-January 1-February 28 2014

Total sales=139

Average sales price=$160,284

Average days on Market=185

Bank owned sales=36

Total sales up almost 13% year to date. However, if you extract Bank Owned sales, the remaining home sales were actually down slightly. That concerns me. Is the "shadow inventory" of bank owned homes now being pushed through the pipeline and into the market? Some experts have predicted that banks were holding back their foreclosure inventory to release incrementally. This is where the term "shadow inventory" comes from. I called a couple of Realtors I know that specialize in listing bank owned properties. They told me "No", they were not seeing a rush by banks to unload a bunch of properties. At any rate, we will be watching this number closely.

The charts below demonstrate that it is still a buyers market in Craven County. In my opinion there are some dynamics taking place right now that will change this, but it will not happen overnight.

Click On Photos to Enlarge

Current Absorption Rates by Neighborhood

Below is a chart showing home sales in Craven County for the last 2 years. Sale, month to month have remained pretty consistent.

Did you know the home affordability index is incredibly high right now? Interest rates are low, under 4% and home prices are reasonable, I remember trying to sell homes when mortgage rates were over 17%. It is a great time to buy a home, if you plan on living in it for more than a few years. Two years or less, think I would rent.