Triangle home sales recent run of double-digit increases continued in November, with sales increasing 11 percent over the same period a year ago.

There were 1,169 homes sold in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties in November, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

Pending sales were up 8 percent while showings declined 3 percent.

The year-over-year comparisons have been strong in recent months in large part because of the influence of the federal homebuyer tax credits. The credits expired at the end of June last year, but sales were depressed for about six months afterward.

The market also continues to benefit from reduced supply.

The number of homes listed for sale in November was 19 percent lower than the same period a year ago.
 

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.
 

After slumping badly towards the end of the year, Triangle home sales ended 2010 down 7 percent compared to the previous year.

There were 20,674 homes sold during 2010 in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show. That total ranked eight best when compared to the last 16 years.

Home sales in the fourth quarter decreased 31 percent compared to the same period in 2009.

The steep declines in the fourth quarter are further evidence of how the market has struggled without the support of government incentives.

During the same period in 2009, many buyers were rushing to take advantage of a first-time home buyer tax credit they thought would soon expire.

Most markets around the country have seen a sharp drop in sales activity since the tax credits expired last summer.
 

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 surged in the second quarter as the market continued to receive a boost from the government tax credits for first-time and repeat buyers.

Sales were up 24 percent in the second quarter when compared to the same period in 2009, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

But there continue to be worrisome signs that activity in the market has slowed considerably with the expiration of the tax credits.

To be eligible for the tax credits buyers had to put a home under contract by April 30. It can take 30 days or longer to close on a house after putting it under contract.

The number of showings in the second quarter, which includes two months of data after the April 30 deadline, dropped 15 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. Pending sales were down 3 percent.

Real estate professionals are watching nervously to see how severe the drop off in sales will be once the effect of the tax credits is no longer being felt.

The end of the tax credits has also caused new housing starts to fall across the country.

They were down 10 percent in May, the biggest decline since March 2009, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.

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.

Triangle home sales jumped 33 percent in April compared to the previous year as the market continued to benefit from the government's tax credit program for first-time and repeat buyers.

The deadline to be eligible for those tax credits was April 30 to put a home under contract and June 30 to close.

There were 1,880 homes sold during April in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

More people also put their homes on the market, as the number of homes listed during April was up 25 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

As we wrote about last week, Friday was the deadline to qualify for the first-time and repeat homebuyer tax credits being offered by the government.

Buyers had to put a home under contract by April 30 and close by June 30.

The Internal Revenue Service reports that nearly 56,000 North Carolina taxpayers have collected $400 million in first-time homebuyer credits as of February 20. 

In South Carolina, more than 27,000 taxpayers have collected more than $197 million in first-time homebuyer credits.

The repeat buyer credit has only been available since November.

Taxpayers claim the credit on their federal income tax returns, which means it will be many months before the government offers up a full accounting of the program's cost.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be in the Triangle Thursday to participate in a discussion about the department's new markets tax credit program.

The program allows taxpayers to receive a credit for making qualified equity investments in designated low-income communities.

Geithner will attend a roundtable discussion on the credits and visit a job training center and a retail business in the Golden Belt Complex, a newly renovated six-building facility in Durham that was financed in part with new market tax credits.

After the roundtable, Geithner will join business and university leaders and elected officials for a discussion of the work being done in the Research Triangle Park to create high-tech jobs. 

The discussion will focus on how the link between entrepreneurs and research universities can be leveraged to create jobs in next generation technologies.

Among the other salons joining Geithner are U.S. Representatives David Price and Brad Miller and Mechanics & Farmers Bank President and CEO Kim Saunders.
 
Geithner's tour of the Golden Belt Complex is expected to start around 1 p.m.