The Red Report
December 2012 Home Sales Report:
CLOSINGS 2012
Month Rutherford Williamson Davidson Wilson
January 183 167 396 90
February 222 189 413 107
March 288 242 526 162
April 354 292 627 133
May 358 375 706 158
June 365 384 705 197
July 375 407 687 180
August 390 395 693 197
September 289 324 604 182
October 316 329 671 166
November 308 311 574 164
December 309 316 567 174
CLOSINGS 2011
Month Rutherford Williamson Davidson Wilson
January 169 140 302 92
February 152 150 329 85
March 259 245 427 133
April 251 209 467 112
May 278 305 518 138
June 263 316 596 134
July 290 337 521 158
August 289 274 572 158
September 261 244 527 131
October 259 232 468 144
November 238 201 425 129
December 231 264 508 143
TOTAL 2,940 2,917 5,660 1,575
2012 ended with a 27% increase over 2011.
Well it’s hard to complain about a 27% increase year over year.
2012 was a nice steady year with regular increases all year long. Sales volumes are up,
prices are increasing, homes are selling quicker, more homes are getting multiple offers,
more financing options are available, and good deals continue to get harder to find.
Total Home Closings up 19% for December 2012 verses December 2011.
Total Year to Date Home Closings are up 27%.
Total Inventories are down 16% from December 2011 to December 2012.
Home Closings for December 2012 vs December 2011:
Rutherford closings up 34% with average closed prices the same.
Williamson closings up 20% with average closed prices down 1.5%.
Davidson closings up 12% with average closed prices up 10%.
Wilson closings up 23% with average closed prices up 6%.
Home Closings from November 2012 to December 2012:
Rutherford closings are level.
Williamson closings up 2%
Davidson closings down 1%
Wilson closings up 6%
These are expected seasonal changes. Watch the year to year comparisons.
Pendings for December 2012:
Rutherford pended 301 which is down 10% from last month.
Williamson pended 264 which is down 21%.
Davidson pended 542 which is level.
Wilson pended 181 which is up 20%.
These pending numbers are mixed so January closings should look a lot like December.
Appraisals:
Appraisals continue to improve. We aren’t completely out of the woods on the appraisal
issues, but we have seen drastic improvements. Please continue to ask your realtor who the
best mortgage brokers are that don’t have appraisal issues, and the market will take care of itself.
Commercial/Land Sales: All Four Counties-
Commercial YTD sales volume is up 96%- from $36.8million to $72.3 million.
Land YTD sales volume is up 51%- from $80.8million to $122million.
Condo Sales: All Four Counties
34% increase 2012 YTD compared to 2011 YTD Closings.
2012- 2,708 Closed YTD
2011- 2,026 Closed YTD
Interesting Data from the latest National Association of Realtors(NAR) reports:
-NAR’s Median Sales Price has increased 10.1% nationally.
-Lowest Housing Supply since September 2005.
-22% of Sales are Distressed Sales compared to 29% same time in 2011 (made up of 12% Foreclosures and 10% Short-sales).
-Foreclosures were discounted 20% while short-sales were discounted 16%.
-1st Time Homebuyers are 30% of all purchases.
-Cash buyers are 30% of all purchases.
-Investors are 19% of all purchases.
-The national average interest rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is another record low of 3.35%
I pulled the total closings for the last ten years so we could compare now to then:
2012- 16,567 (almost 70% of the peak)
2011- 13,074
2010- 12,787 (about half of the peak)
2009- 13,209
2008- 14,829
2007- 20,333
2006- 24,287
2005- 24,072
2004- 22,300
2003- 20,352
From the above chart, we can see that big improvements have been made but we still have more ground to
gain in order to catch up to the 2005/2006 levels.
Some predict we’ll be back to the peak levels by mid 2014 while others say 2017. I’ll take either prediction
as both ranges state that we will see steady improvements over the next 2-5 years.
2012 was a big year for our industry. Let’s hope that 2013 brings the same activity and good news!
Happy New Year,
Steven
