The New York Times published a story that our real estate reporter, David Bracken, has been writing about for months, if not longer.
The housing industry is experiencing a standoff of sorts. There is a shortage of single-family homes for sale around the country. We have been seeing this in the Triangle. But it is a strange kind of shortage that doesn't seem to result in a big jump in prices or a buyer frenzy. It is as if supply and demand are existing in different economic universes. Let me explain.
At the end of February, there were 7,515 homes on the market here. That was 20 percent down from last year and 40 percent down from two years ago, according to Triangle Multiple Listing Services data. That means that this area has a five-month supply of homes for sale.
But the average sales price of a home is up just 1 percent and a crucial metric, the number of days a home stays on the market, continues to drop but is still at 117 days.
So, while the Times story suggests that in some markets around the country sellers are getting multiple offers, prices are jumping and the homes are flying off the shelf, something is still holding this market back.
I think that's because the Triangle housing market is still recovering. There is an undercurrent of buyers and sellers still groping around, trying to get a bead on things.
Unemployment, by Triangle standards, is still very high, at 7.7 percent at year end. At the end of 2006, the Raleigh-Cary-Durham jobless rate hovered at 3.5 percent. People without jobs don't buy houses. OK, maybe they did during the subprime days of yore when you could get a mortgage by fogging up a mirror. But not today.
There are other wet blankets on the market. Buyers and sellers are playing a waiting game. People who bought a house back in the mid-2000's for, say, $250,000, may be sitting on real estate that is now just worth $220,000. They may owe more than their house is worth, and sellers don't want to come to the closing table having to write a check to pay off the mortgage balance that the sales price doesn't cover. They were raised by their parents to believe that you walk away from closing with money, the equity that has grown over time.
Buyers, for their part, aren't sure that prices have really, finally, absolutely bottomed, despite evidence to the contrary. Somewhere, out there, is a crazy good deal where they can practically steal a house from desperate sellers.
And, believing that they have the upper hand, they want the homes to be brought up to pristine condition.
No nail holes, no carpet stains, no loose hand rails.
So while the things we learned in that 8 a.m. Econ 101 class -- you never missed a lecture, right? -- suggest that we should be reaching equilibrium soon where all buyers and sellers come together where the supply and demand curves intersect at a price they can live with, it hasn't happened. (Editor's note: For the econ professors out there, I know the curves represent "quantity supplied" and "quantity demanded." Don't email me. I was awake in Econ 101. I'm a journalist engaging in shorthand.)
Sellers are on a sort of strike, keeping their homes off the market, and buyers are being tougher than maybe they should be.
The only thing that will deliver a jolt to this impasse is going to be a significant drop in the jobless rate. In other words, more people working. That isn't going to happen fast. A couple of the historic engines of growth in the Triangle were state government and the universities. Well, the Republicans who now control the legislature and the governor's mansion are definitely not interested in boosting the number of public sector employees. The reverse is true.
They will argue that shrinking government leaves more money in the hands of the private sector, and the jobs will be created there. I have no doubt of this, over time. But it will take time for this transition. Someone who loses a government-funded job -- in the state bureaucracy, as a teaching assistant in an elementary school, or at a university -- doesn't walk into a new private sector job overnight. Then there is the sequester, which may cost this area jobs -- we have folks here who commute to Ft. Bragg and to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, as civilian employees and defense contractors.
And there are plenty of private employers who are uncertain about what Obamacare will mean for them. Will that additional employee push them over some magic number that will increase their health care costs?
I don't want to sound overly pessimistic. Eventually, the market clears. We have been in a five-year funk. It has been so long that people forget what good times feel like. There is a lot of pent-up demand for housing. In the past five years, a lot of kids have graduated from college and are now in their mid-to-late 20s, and they are forming families and they want a backyard. A lot of folks who bought starter homes back in 2008 want to move up to a bigger house. The Triangle is still growing; Raleigh-Cary is still one of the fastest growing areas in the country.
So the housing market will continue to stabilize, prices will be firming up and rising, and more sellers and buyers will come to terms. Just how fast is tough to gauge, but things are a heck of a lot better than they were a few years ago.

View Johnston County U.S. 301 bridges in a larger map

The state Department of Transportation says it will hold a public information session Tuesday to discuss plans for replacing two bridges on U.S. 301 south of Smithfield.

The meeting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Pentecostals of Smithfield Church, 3020 S. Brightleaf Blvd., Smithfield. Engineers will answer questions about the project and discuss detour routes. Both bridges were constructed in 1926 and are classified as functionally obsolete.

The two-lane bridges, about one mile apart, carry about 11,000 cars and trucks each day. Tentative plans call for construction to start in the summer of 2015 on the U.S. 301 bridge over Holt's Lake, followed by construction of the U.S. 301 bridge over the Neuse River. Each bridge will be closed and traffic will be detoured for about six months.

Construction began this fall a few miles away on a replacement for the U.S. 70 Business bridge over the Neuse River, at the western edge of downtown Smithfield. The bridge is expected to reopen in the summer of 2013.

The Johnston County landfill at 680 County Home Road in Smithfield will accept vegetative debris related to Hurricane Irene from residential customers at no charge,  today through Sept. 10. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. through 4:45 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. through 3:30 p.m.

For more information, contact the Solid Waste Division at 919-989-4750.

The Johnston County Building Inspections Department will be open Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. for residents who have storm damage that requires a permit for electrical reconnections.

The department is at the Johnston County Land Use Center at 309 East Market Street in Smithfield. The main entrance is at the rear of the building.

If you have questions during those hours Sunday, or between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, contact the department at (919) 989-5060.

Johnston County officials report that 217 citizens sought shelter at Smithfield-Selma High School. Currently the shelter is at 54 percent capacity. The county has an estimated 19,000 Progress Energy power outages.

State road crews are continuing to pick up debris from the April storms and tornados in Wake and five other counties, but the roadside cleanup will end soon.

The state Department of Transportation says the final pickup for debris stacked beside state-maintained roads in Johnston County will be Tuesday.

In four other counties, residents are asked to put debris on the roadside for final pickups that will begin Tuesday:  Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett and Robeson counties.

In Wake County, DOT says its crews will make their second sweep of state roads late this week and early next week.  June 15 is the deadline for roadside debris removal in Wake County.

Residents are asked to make two piles for building materials and tree limbs or other vegetation, and to keep travel lanes clear.

Talks are set for this week on a proposal to largely ban the use of firearms within 600 feet of any occupied building.

The Good Neighbor Firearms Ordinance Work Group will meet 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, at the Emergency Operations Center, 120 S. Third St. The work group includes County Commissioners, planning officials and residents charged with crafting the ordinance.

Those who want to attend should come through the Third Street entrance.

The meeting was originally scheduled for last week but was postponed due to winter weather.

To read more about the recently proposed firearm ordinance, click here.

More of how to dispose of those live trees:

Screenings of six short films about Smithfield and Johnston County are scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, at the Neuse Little Theatre, 104 S. Front St., Smithfield. Admission is free, but seating is limited.

The films are:

“Post 518: Johnston County, N.C.,” by Jessie Landerman. The film explores how military service affects race relations and how small-town veterans cope with the reality of racism in America.

“The Banks of Smithfield,” by Wendy Redfield. This film tells the story of the Bank of Smithfield, now First Citizens Bank, and the roles its historic buildings have played in Smithfield and in five neighboring communities.

“Percy’s Run,” by D.L. Anderson. Joshua Percy Flowers was a moonshiner and foxhunter. This film attempts to cover the ground between the two pursuits and reveal a picture of the man apart from the legends.

“The Red Dog,” by Sara Washington. Since 1941, Carolina Packers has made what many describe as “the best hotdogs in Eastern North Carolina.” This short documentary takes a look at the people who work hard to make the hotdogs.

“The Smithfield Rescue Mission,” by Brooke Shuman. This short film shows a typical day at the Smithfield Rescue Mission men’s shelter with words from current residents.

"Tobacco Culture in Smithfield," by Maggie Smith. Residents share their memories and thoughts on the importance of tobacco culture in Smithfield and how things have changed over time.

Is another Josh Hamilton waiting to emerge from the Triangle's baseball ranks?

He might get some help from an Eastern North Carolina baseball family.

On Jan. 8, the Narron family and friends will conduct a free skills clinic for players in the seventh grade.