Sales in Union County Soar – 19.7% Through October 2011

Sales of homes in Union county rose 19.7% during October to 182 homes sold.  That’s 2,189 homes closed over the last 12 months in Union County.  Pending sales (homes receiving a contract) were also up 37.6% year-over-year in October with 172 homes receiving a contract.

Real Estate Sales - Union County North Carolina Through October 2011

Of the 182 homes that closed in October, only 28 were bank owned foreclosures (down 26.3% the year prior) and 17 were short sales (up 41.7%).  The rest were traditional equity sales.

Sellers received 91.1% of their original asking price (up 1.8% the year prior) and the highest level in more than 2 years.  Bank owned foreclosures sold for 92% of their asking prices while short sales sold at 88.1%.

What did not improve was sales price as the average selling price for single family homes, which dropped 29.3% compared to last year to only $203,798 while townhouses increased 5.4% to $112.625.  Combined, the median sales price fell 26% to just $160,000 – down from $216,188 which had been an 14.4% increase over the year prior.

Existing real estate inventories have fallen to the second lowest in six years with just 304 homes on the market, resulting in only a 10.2 months supply of inventory. Typically the lowest point of any given year is in December for inventory so it’s odd that so much inventory is no longer available. That will also cause prices on existing homes to increase as demand will drive up prices.