Wilmington Home Sales up from December

but Pending Homes sales down from same period a year ago

Editor's note: Because of incorrect information supplied by a source, the number of pending home sales in the Wilmington area reported in Tuesday's Star-News was incorrect. As a result, the thrust of the story was miscast. We have opted to run the correct information here, in a similar location to the original story.

By Wayne Faulkner,
Business Editor

The number of Wilmington-area pending home sales fell to 386 in January from 575 in January 2007, a drop of nearly 33 percent, according to data supplied Wednesday by the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors.

The 386 total for January, however, was up more than 28 percent from 301 in December 2007, the Wilmington Realtors group reported.

So far in February, there are 392 pending sales, down from 669 for all of February 2007, the Realtors said.

Pending sales can be seen as an indicator of sales in the near future.

The Wilmington Realtors' multiple listing service covers all of New Hanover and Pender counties, and parts of Brunswick and other nearby counties. So, the data reflect pending sales in those geographical areas.

"Under the current conditions in our economy, I feel fortunate that February 2008 will be higher than any month in pending sales over the past five months with maybe the exception of October," said Susan Lacy, president of the Wilmington Realtors.

"I find that encouraging since we are now working with a much smaller pool of buyers in the current economic environment and we are still increasing our average and median sale prices. In Realtor eyes, I do see the market trending upward with activity."

Wayne Faulkner: 343-2329

wayne.faulkner@starnewsonline.com