Area Real Estate Sales Remain Sluggish in February

  Despite more stable winter weather with an abundance of weekend visitors throughout the month of February, area real estate sales softened during the month illustrating the fact that we are still experiencing some uncertain market conditions overall.
  Unit sales reported through the MLS®system of the Georgian Triangle Association of REALTORS® totaled 127 properties, 1 less than sold in February 2012.  Dollar volume for the month of $36.1 million reflected a 7% drop from the same month last year which was due to the fact that there were far fewer sales at the upper end of the market.  Individual sales above $1 million in 2012 totaled 7 properties whereas this year there were only 3.
  Far fewer properties were listed for sale during the month with new MLS® listings totaling 405 properties as compared to 502 in February of 2012, a decrease of 19%.  Year-to-date the number of new MLS®  listings is down 3% with 975 new properties having come on the market since Janaury 1st.  As expected with the decrease in new MLS® listings there has been an increase in the number of expired listings.  The number of expired listings jumped 16% in February resulting in the number of expired's being up 7% year-to-date.  Some sellers may be electing to wait until spring to re-list their properties and or are simply taking a break as they wait for market conditions to improve before putting their properties back on the market.
  Contrary to 2012, we are seeing a somewhat stronger demand for more expensive properties this year.  In the first two months of 2013, sales between $500,000 to $800,000 are up 31% with 17 properties sold.  In the $800,000 to $1 million price range there have been 6 sales compared to just 2 last year reflecting a 200% increase. 
  In my next posting I will review sales across the various municipalities in our area that make up our market.