Doug Patterson ABR®, SFR REALTOR®: Home Sales Stabilizing Winston Salem NC

Home Sales are stabilizing in Winston Salem, NC! 

I was out walking my dog, “Winston”, a two year old male Schnauzer, the other day and struck up a conversation with another fellow from the adjoining neighborhood. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him I was a REALTOR®.  I naturally referred him to my "easy to remember" web site:  www.callDOUGnow.com

Then he made the comment, “I read in the Winston paper that  home sales are stabilizing in Winston Salem.”

“Hold On,” I replied! “A statement like that about Winston Salem (and Forsyth County as a whole) is a little misleading.”   “How so,” he asked.  So I proceeded to share my thoughts on the real estate market …you know... like most of us in our industry can tend to do from time-to-time!  

Generally speaking though, North Carolina hasn’t had the inflated home values like so many other parts of the country.  In fact, every four years, Forsyth County performs a review of property taxes and 2009 was the year.  It resulted in a general increase in property values, indicating again that home sales are stabilizing in Winston Salem.    

That’s not to minimize the fact that, due to job losses and other factors, the Triad has experienced more foreclosures than usual. But there again, not the large numbers that have plagued many other states.

Let me digress just a bit.  North Carolina is truly a great state to call home, mainly because we have such a varied environment from the western mountain region to the eastern coastal range.   The middle section, referred to as the "Piedmont",  has been promoted well in an effort to position North Carolina with a strong economy.   In 1991, the Piedmont Triad Partnership was developed to promote the "collective resources of the Region" in order to recruit new jobs and investment to the Piedmont Triad. Today, the region is a national economic model and the Piedmont Triad Partnership has been recognized as one of the leading economic development organizations in North America.  This is another reason why home sales are stabilizing in Winston Salem.

Our historic North Carolina coast is protected in many locations from "over development" and therefore retained it's natural resources and beauty.  Well planned communities are abundant and vacationers come back often.  When community leadership is strong and long term planning is in place, should a recession occur, mild or severe, then a recovery is much quicker.  This incite in our planning is now paying off as is shown, since home sales are stabilizing in Winston Salem. 

The historic Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, was established as the country's first National Seashore in 1953.  (outerbanks.org/index.asp)

Getting back to my original point… Winston Salem Home sales are Stabilizing… According to our local paper, the Winston-Salem Journal  (www.journalnow.com), a recent comparison of existing homes sales indicated that Forsyth County showed a decrease in homes sold, but the average sales price was up by 9%.  

FORSYTH COUNTY HOME SALES:      July 2009: 439 homes           July 2008: 561 homes

FORSYTH CO. AVG. HOME PRICES:    July 2009:  $197,661           July 2008: $180,977

(Journal Source: Winston Salem Regional Association of Realtors)

There are a lot of excellent reasons to live in beautiful North Carolina, and I’ve only touched on a few of them here, but I welcome your questions and comments. You can also reach me at dpatterson1@triad.rr.com 

I stand on the grounds that Home Sales are Stabilizing in Winston Salem  North Carolina , and hopefully will always remain, a “Stable” place to live.

Mayberry was a DREAM WORLD and it’s only 26 miles north of Winston Salem just past "Mt. Pilot!"

To learn more about North Carolina, Winston Salem and Forsyth County,  please contact me at www.callDOUGnow.com

…and we all already know what happened to “Little Opie”!!