January Sales Figures for Greensboro

I don’t know whether I’m stuck in Optimism Mode, or that things have been down so long they really are beginning to look like up to me, but I swear I see good things in the real estate sales figures for the month of January.

Greensboro – let it be written again – is not SoCal, or Florida or the long-suffering Michigan and so hasn’t been rocked to the degree of those areas in regards to a real estate slump. But it has been a challenging time for those trying to sell their homes.

And increased scrutiny on the part of mortgage lenders has made it more challenging for some marginal buyers to be able to get mortgages.

But there are sales being made.

Witness this: When comparing the figures for closed properties in Greensboro in the month of January (2007 to 2009) we see that the 2007/2008 numbers were rather jarring, to say the least – January 2007 had 296* closings. January 2008 had 213. That was a decline of *gulp* 28%.

But January 2009 had 201 closings. A decline, but of only 6%. And not only that, but whereas closings were fewer in 1/2008 than 12/2007, these 201 closings represent the third consecutive month of increases.

Grasping at straws, you say? Well, maybe. But they’re my dadgum straws and I’ll grasp them if I wish. I’m looking at trends. And I see something encouraging. Stories comparing all of 2008 to all of 2007 are well and good, but what difference do those arbitrary comparisons make? Let’s face it. The fact that fewer homes sold in all of 2008  than in all of 2007 is not what you call a surprise.

What’s more important is what is happening now and very recently.

Prices have also apparently stopped the declines we’ve seen. The average closed price in January 2009 was $164,460 compared to $169,498 in 2008, a decline of only 3%. That is much better than the 9% decline from January 2007 ($185,263)

OK, OK. Enough with the palaver. Here are some charts…

And while we’re at it, lets go ahead and look at all the pretty colors:

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

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If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS). “Single-family” does not include Duplexes or manufactured homes.

Tags: annual sales comparison, weekly Greensboro housing statistics