When more homes are for sale, the search changes from pursuing whatever comes up next to choosing among several real options. This week’s Advice by Design looks at how buyers can use that room well: comparing homes side by side, asking the right questions about longer-market listings, and knowing where their negotiating position is strong and where it isn’t.
Homes across the Triangle are taking longer to sell than they did a few years ago, and the overall trend continues to point toward longer marketing times. That calls for a reset in expectations, not alarm: a slower pace and a weak market are two different things. In this RealGuide, I explain what days on market does and doesn’t tell you, why the first few weeks still matter, and how to decide when to adjust and when to wait. The goal isn’t to sell fast. It’s to sell well.
Durham County homes averaged 36 days on market in September, nearly two weeks longer than a year ago and the slowest September pace since 2015. Median sales price and price per square foot both fell, down 6.7% and 7.5% year over year, while inventory reached its highest level since 2014. Closed sales held steady, and Lisa Ellis explains what a patient, selective buyer pool means for anyone planning a move this fall.
October opens with a full weekend in Durham and the Triangle. The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival fills a Chatham County farm with music, NCCU Theatre opens its season with African Medea, and Saturday brings WUNC’s 50th anniversary party, 1860s-style base ball at the DAP and the 25th Phoenix Fest. On Sunday, downtown streets go car-free for Move-A-Bull City.
Selling first and buying first each come with real tradeoffs, and today’s more typical market conditions open up options that weren’t always practical a couple of years ago. This week’s RealGuide walks through what each approach actually gives you, when a contingent offer is worth considering, and how to build a sequence that accounts for both sides of your move.
Orange County’s median sales price jumped 16.4% year over year in August, but price per square foot moved just 1.1%, the same wide mix-shift gap that’s defined this market for three months running. Inventory climbed 32.8% year over year, the sharpest growth logged anywhere in this series, yet days on market actually improved rather than worsened. Lisa Ellis explains why the headline price number remains the least reliable read on Orange County’s real estate market right now.
Early autumn settles in this weekend, with two very different Friday night options: a laid-back garden concert or a Dolly Parton tribute at American Tobacco Campus. Saturday piles on even more, a pumpkin-picking train ride, an Outlander-inspired Scottish festival, a Shrek-themed block party, and a free evening of modern dance in Cary. Here’s my full guide for Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27.
Falling leaves, football games, and a suspicious number of inflatable skeletons: fall doesn’t feel like real estate season, but the sellers who list anyway tend to find more serious buyers and a lot less competition. This week’s RealGuide covers what actually matters when you’re prepping a home for market this time of year, pumpkin decor opinions included.
Wake County’s median sales price fell 5.2% year over year in August, and for the first time in months, price per square foot moved too, down 1.8% after sitting flat at $224 for nearly a year. Closed sales fell for a second straight month while days on market continued to climb, confirming the cooling trend that first showed up in July’s numbers. Lisa Ellis breaks down what a genuinely softening market means for buyers and sellers heading into fall.
CenterFest takes over downtown Durham this weekend, kicked off Friday by Third Friday’s art walk before the festival fills the streets Saturday and Sunday. Layer in a luminary program at Bennett Place, a new sculpture garden debuting in Pittsboro, a dragon boat festival in Cary, and a night with John Waters closing things out, and there’s a lot to choose from between Friday, September 18 and Sunday, September 20.
