For the second straight monthTriangle home sales rose compared with the same period last year, a sign that the housing market may be establishing a bottom after 12 tumultuous months.
There were 1,687 existing homes sold during October in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show. That's up 26 percent from October 2008. The number of home showings was up 12 percent compared with the same period last year, while the number of sales pending increased 27 percent.
"We've bounced up off of a bottom, and I think that's a good sign," said Stacey Anfindsen, a Cary appraiser who analyzes MLS data for Triangle real estate agents.
In September, the Triangle market experienced its first year-over-year increase since 2007.
But Anfindsen warned that the spike in sales and pending sales should not be viewed as a sign that the Triangle housing market is taking off again.
The market nose-dived during the third quarter of last year, meaning the latest October numbers are being compared with one of the worst periods on record.
The October numbers also got a boost from the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which was set to expire Dec. 1 until the government agreed to extend it into next year.
"It looks like the market's on fire," Anfindsen said. "Curb your enthusiasm."
The tax credit allows first-time buyers to reduce their federal income taxes by 10 percent of the price of a home, up to a maximum of $8,000. The credit was extended this month and expanded to include a tax credit of up to $6,500 for repeat buyers who have lived in their houses at least five years.
The new deadline for both tax credits is April 30 to put a home under contract and June 30 to close.
Phyllis Brookshire, regional vice president for the Allen Tate Co., said the importance of the first-time buyer tax credit can be seen in the type of homes that have been selling. Houses priced at less than $300,000 showed increased sales in October compared with the same month last year.
"I'm cautiously optimistic," Brookshire said. "We're not out of the woods yet."
The number of days homes spent on the market in October was four days longer than the same period last year, and the Triangle continues to have a glut of homes that cost more than $400,000 for sale.
"The homes that are languishing on the market continue to be the high-end homes because there's so much inventory," said Mari Trosclair, a broker with Piedmont Preferred Realty.
Trosclair is a broker for Hope Valley Farms and Woodcroft, two Durham subdivisions that have been among the top selling developments in the Triangle this year, according to Triangle MLS data.
The average price of the 108 homes sold in Hope Valley Farms this year is $195,351, and in Woodcroft it's $166,642 for 103 homes.
Trosclair said buyers in those communities have been a mix of first-time buyers and empty nesters looking to downsize or purchase a home for their children. She said she has even had a couple of properties of late that drew multiple offers.
"That was shocking," Trosclair said. "Just last fall I was checking my phone to make sure it was working."
