David Bracken, our assistant business editor, posted a story online that said Triangle home sales in February were up 35 percent over a year ago. Which is good news.

Except that in the comment section at the bottom of the story, an argument broke out. Someone who goes by the handle "rockn" sarcastically (I think) wrote: "It's all Obama's fault."

Someone else who goes by "dachrist" wrote: "The triangle is one small area in the US. And does not represent the nation as a whole. The triangle is still a desirable area for companies and others to move into due to the low cost of living compared to other areas.  Politics has hardly anything to do with this."

And "Athiest" wrote: 

The Triangle housing market showed signs of recovery in January with sales, pending sales and showings all up compared to the same period a year ago.

But the market continued to be rough on sellers. The average sales price of the homes that sold was down 7 percent while the percentage of deals that involved financial concessions from the seller increased.

There were 926 homes sold in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties in January, up 7 percent from the same period a year ago, data from Triangle Multiple Listing Services show.

Pending sales were up 30 percent and showings were up 10 percent.
 

The Triangle housing market continues to show signs of improvement in the second half of the year.

A total of 4,471 homes sold in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake Counties during the third quarter, up 17 percent from the same period a year ago, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

Pending sales were up 27 percent and showings increased 7 percent.

The inventory of homes on the market also continues to decline, something that needs to happen if prices are to stabilize.
 

The Triangle housing market, which has been plagued by too many sellers and not enough buyers since the recession hit, is still waiting for signs of a turnaround this year.

There were 3,041 homes sold during the first three months of the year in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

That was down 8 percent from the same period a year ago. Showings for the quarter were down 20 percent and pending sales were off 30 percent.

The average days on the market for the homes that did sell rose from 102 days to 125 days.

Some declines in the year-over-year comparisons were expected due to the absence of federal tax credits, which expired last summer.

But the first quarter sales, showings and pending sales were also below the same period in 2009.
 

A large, national homebuilder will expand into Raleigh for the first time, in another bet on the health of this region's housing market.

Meritage Homes, which is known for its energy-efficient homes, has purchased 46 one-acre lots at Inwood Forest, a subdivision near the corner of Lake Wheeler and Tryon roads in south Raleigh. The single-family homes will be priced from the high $200,000s to the mid-$300,000s.

It's the first foothold in North Carolina for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Meritage, which builds in 12 other markets, including Houston; Las Vegas; Denver; and Orlando, Fla.

Triangle home sales continued to limp along in February as the market prepares to enter what has historically been the busiest period of the year.

There were 891 homes sold in February in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties, down 3 percent from the same period a year ago, Triangle Multiple Listing Service data show.

Showings were down 20 percent from a year ago. Pending sales were off 27 percent.

The numbers continue to suffer from a sluggish economy and the absence of federal home buyer tax credits.

Last year at this time, the government was offering credits to both first-time and repeat homebuyers.
 

The Triangle housing market continued to sputter along in October with sales down sharply from the same period a year ago.

There were 1,067 home sales in October in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties in October, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

That was down 40 percent from the same period last year, and off 20 percent from October 2008. Pending sales were down 30 percent from a year ago and off 11 percent from two years ago.

The sharp declines from last year can be partly attributed to the fact that last October many buyers were rushing to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which originally was set to expire Dec. 1.

The fact that the numbers are also well below where the market was in 2008 shows how soft the market has become since the the federal homebuyer tax credits expired.
 

Triangle home sales dropped 27 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year as the market continued to feel the effects of a stalled economic recovery and the absence of federal homebuyer tax credits.

There were 3,834 homes sold in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties during the three months that ended Sept. 30, according to Triangle Multiple Listing Services data.

Showings were off 27 percent and pending sales were down 32 percent.

The supply of houses on the market has also jumped from seven months to 11 months over the past year.

Supply is determined by the time it would take to get through the existing inventory at the current pace of sales.
 

The National Association of Home Builders said today that builder confidence has reached its lowest level in more than 15 months.

The Housing Market Index, derived from a monthly survey that the association conducts, declined one point to its lowest level since March 2009.

The decline in builder confidence comes after a period when new home sales in the Triangle got a major boost from the federal tax credits for first-time and repeat homebuyers.

New home sales in Wake, Durham, Orange, Johnston, Chatham and Franklin counties increased 33 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, according to Market Opportunity Research Enterprises, a Rocky Mount firm that tracks Triangle real estate.

By comparison, existing home sales rose 24 percent in the Triangle during the same period.

The number of residential lots purchased during the second quarter also surged, jumping 131 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009.
 

Home sales in the Triangle jumped again in May as buyers rushed to take advantage of the government’s tax credits for first-time and repeat buyers.

But the expiration of the tax credits, which required eligible buyers to put a home under contract by April 30 and close by June 30, appeared to cause many people to stop looking.

The number of showings in May was down 30 percent from the same month a year earlier, and pending sales were off 5 percent.

Those numbers will only increase anxiety over how the market will react once the tax credits are no longer around to provide a boost.

There were 2,083 homes sold during May in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties, up 26 percent from the same month a year ago, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

The increase was less than the 33 percent year-over-year increase recorded in April.