The story of the Fayetteville, NC real estate market last year (2010) is a mixed one. It was one of the worst years for the sale of existing homes in Fayetteville, NC in the last decade, but sales of new construction homes were relatively strong.
Overall, the market was 31% off its high of 2006. A total of 3,576 existing homes were sold. New construction homes added another 2,156 sold.
Sales of existing homes were below the average of the last 10 years by about 10%. In new construction, however, sales were above the average of the last 10 years by over 17%.
The rate at which existing and new construction homes sold is also a mixed story. Existing home absorption rates were very high, clearly indicating a buyers market. For new construction, absorption rates were balanced in most price ranges.
Take a minute to look through this executive summary. Click on the image below to read this report in full screen:
Fayetteville, NC Real Estate Market Report – January 2011
Buyers are purchasing new homes faster than existing homes. New construction offers many of the features and amenities that existing homes in the area may lack. New construction in some price ranges is selling better than existing homes–more new construction homes are sold than existing homes. It is not because there is a shortage of existing homes–many existing homes currently on the market will not sell.
So, what does all this mean? Sellers of existing homes have a tough job to get their home sold; not only must their home compete with other existing homes, it must compete with new construction. Effective marketing will be needed to get the buyer’s attention, but more-so, price and condition will have to be carefully set by home sellers if they hope to actually get a buyer to write an offer.
On the other hand, buyers have a lot of homes from which to choose, so finding the best one should not be too difficult. Mortgage rates are still very low, leaving interested buyers with good credit in a very strong position.