Iredell home sales jumped in October

By: Bethany Fuller | Mooresville Tribune
Published: November 13, 2009

Low interest rates and tax credits helped Realtors close the deal on a lot of home sales last month.

Around 149 residential transactions closed in Iredell County in October, up 53.6 percent compared to the same month in 2008, when 97 sales were completed, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association (CRRA).

"It's like hallelujah," said Kim Privette, broker in charge at Exit Home Team Realty on West Broad Street in Statesville. "It was a big turn around."

The market started a steady descent after peaking in August 2006. In 2005 and 2006, Realtors in Iredell County closed 158-338 houses a month.

This year, home sales have bounced from 61 sales in January to 154 in July.

The number of homes sold in Iredell during October was up 38 percent from September's 108 closings.

Privette said the combination of the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit, low interest rates and an increase in inventory is helping to push the market.

"They aren't limited to what they are looking at," she said.

CRRA spokeswoman Kim Walker said pending contracts, which help gauge future sales, remain high in the Multiple Listing Service and should continue to drive sales for the remainder of the year. Contracts in October reached 2,400, a 9.1 percent increase from September and 33.5 percent more than the same month in 2008 when contracts fell to a low of 1,798.

Privette said she had at least 15 files on her desk from closed sales and new inventory coming on the market. She said people are trying to find something that fits their needs and their budgets.

Most of the sales are coming from homes in the under $250,000 price range, where first-time homebuyers were shopping, said Coldwell Banker United Realtors Realtors Broker in Charge Todd Long.

The tax credit extension to April will help relieve some of the pressure to close by Dec. 1, and will also help promote home sales during the slow winter months, he said.

Long said the addition of the $6,500 tax credit for current homebuyers could help sell some of the homes in the medium and upper price levels.

"If we get there then the housing market is going to be better off," Long said.