Triangle home sale prices rose 5 percent in 2016

Triangle home sale prices rose 5 percent in 2016, hitting a new high for the market, and the number of home sales jumped 10 percent.

The average sale price for the year rose to $282,500, up from $268,500 in 2015, according to Triangle Multiple Listing Service data for Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties. The average sale price of resale houses rose 6 percent to $265,500.

“We’re at the top of many metrics,” said Stacey Anfindsen, a Cary appraiser who analyzes the MLS data.

Last year was “year three of a continuing trend” characterized by rising sales volume and prices and declines in listings and the days that a house is on the market before being sold. “We only added 5 percent in total inventory during the year and yet sales grew by 10 percent,” he said.

With demand outstripping supply, the market for resale houses was hot. Two-thirds of resales were on the market for less than 30 days and 17 percent were sold for more than the list price.

Houses selling below $400,000 in Cary, North Raleigh and inside the beltline are seeing “way, way more demand than there is supply,” Anfindsen said.

Overall the average days on the market for both new and resale homes was 43, down from 52 in 2015 and 102 in 2011.

“We clearly have hit a recovery point where our market was very strong,” said John Wood, owner of Re/Max United. “Our biggest concern is, will there be enough resale listings to meet the demand of buyers?

“Last year had to be one of the crazier markets where homes had multiple, multiple offers and it frustrated a lot of buyers,” Wood added. “It drove a lot of the buyers back into being renters last spring when they couldn’t get a house, and we’re hoping they will come back out of their rental situations and will be able to find housing this spring.”

However, the market isn’t robust across the board.

The supply of homes with an asking price of $800,000 or more exceeds demand, making them tougher to sell, Anfindsen said.

“The oversupply gets worse as you go up in price,” he added.

Overall, Anfindsen predicts that 2017 will be another up year, with both the number of homes sold and sales prices across the Triangle rising an average of 5 percent.

This story was originally published January 13, 2017 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Triangle home sale prices rose 5 percent in 2016."