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.

For the 2nd week in a row there are FEWER houses on the market this week than last.

Last week there were 2939 houses on the market. This week 2864. That’s 75 (2.6%) fewer. And this follows last weeks drop in listings on the market of 41 (1.4%).

This is moderately good news. Now, it can be argued that listings often are taken off the market during the holidays, but this year that may be less true.

Why? Because most properties that have been listed over the last several months are being sold because the sellers needs to sell, not because they think it would be a hoot. These sellers still need to sell.

And the prices? After last week’s slight uptick, there was a very slight down tick this week, ending up almost exactly in the middle. The average list price as of 12.23.08 is $228,270, compared to $230,757 on 12.16.08. The week prior to that the average list price was $225,417.

Some more details:

For the week of December 23, 2008:

• 2864 - Total properties for sale in Greensboro
• 2534 - Active Listings (88%)
• 330 - Pending Sales (12%)
• $228,270 - Average List Price

Of these listings, they break down by property type like this….

… and  by Greensboro zip codes ….

… and the average prices in those zip codes ….

… and, finally, the weekly average list prices within the zip codes (some up, some down)…

We’ll take a closer look at specific zip codes in future posts. Also, we need to break out foreclosures from non-foreclosures. But for now we’ll take solace in the fact that there has been a drop in inventory in Greensboro and prices are remaining fairly steady.

Small steps, small steps, as we look for the fabled “bottom” and hope for the turn back upwards..

* Data per Triad MLS (Multiple Listing Service) as of 12/23/2008. Ho, ho, ho.