Rocky Mount, NC: Reports No Dramatic Loss in Home Pricing, But Inventory is Creeping Up And Days on the Market Til Sale Have Doubled

Despite the doom and gloom reports often seen on the national news networks about the depressed real estate market nationwide, Rocky Mount is consistent in home sales in both the new construction and pre-owned property categories.

Reports state that new construction sales are down on an average of 5 percent and home values on an average are down approximately 3 percent. There are other reports of the dreaded "bubble" in certain areas of the country that is about to burst or is in the process of deflating.

"Bubbles" do indeed exist, and our conversations with brokerage firms in the northeast portion of the United States, along the North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida coastal areas, confirm that property values are declining in those areas.

One specific South Carolina brokerage firm in the Myrtle Beach area stated that the year 2005 showed an average decrease in value of waterfront properties of 25 percent. The year 2006 was estimated to follow with an additional drop of 10 percent.

We cannot confirm these numbers, but the point being made is that real estate buyers or investors are not willing to pay prices that in some cases reflect astronomical equity increases annually.

This actually may be perceived as a "leveling" of the market due to unjustifiable increases not supported by buyers or investors in the real estate market. However, bear in mind that the national averages reported are somewhat skewed by the areas experiencing this "leveling" process. It should be noted that values of properties in the northeast and along coastal areas are in some cases 300 percent higher than similar properties in most areas of the country.

The good news is that the Rocky Mount real estate market is consistent in growth and value increases over the past 10 years. As Bryan Jones, owner of Bryan and Company, a certified appraisal service, said, "Rocky Mount, on an average, has shown a consistent annual equity gain on real property of between 2 percent and 3 percent.