Danville home sales up

Tax credits boosted home sales in Danville and Pittsylvania County during the second quarter, according to a report released Friday.

Compared to last year’s second quarter, Danville’s home sales increased 20.6 percent and Pittsylvania County’s home sales increased 35.4 percent.

Danville home sales increased 36.7 percent and Pittsylvania County home sales increased 66.7 percent from the first quarter, according to the Virginia Association of Realtors second quarter report.

This compares to the statewide increase in home sales of 6.4 percent over the second quarter last year.

“This has got to promote some confidence,” said realtor Sarah Welch of Wilkins & Co. Realtors.

Welch participated in the home sales report press conference.

The biggest influence on sales was the first-time homebuyer tax credit up to $8,000 and the repeat homebuyer tax credit up to $6,500, said Lee Haley, president of the Dan River Region Association of Realtors.

Low interest rates created incentives for people to buy over renting, Haley added.

The 30-year fix mortgage rate averaged 4.56 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac’s “Primary Mortgage Market Survey” released Thursday. Last year at this time, the rate was 5.2 percent.

For many buyers, the monthly mortgage payments are lower than what rent would be.

“It’s still an investment,” Haley said.

Compared to last year’s second quarter, median sales prices increased nearly 27 percent in Danville and about 30 percent in Pittsylvania County, according to the report. This compares to the statewide sales price increase of 2.2 percent over the same period last year.

Additionally, many people, who had been putting over major purchases, bought homes because of the need for a place, Haley added.

That wait is reflected in the 237 average days homes were on the market in Danville, according to the report. That compares to the state average of 85 days.

“We did have a slump in sales. A lot of those houses are carrying over for having been on the market for a long period of time,” Haley said. “Now, they are coming under contract.”

Another bright spot for Southside Virginia is the nearly 8 percent decrease in foreclosures from the first to second quarter — the only region in the state with a decline.

Yet, foreclosures are still up 9.4 percent over last year’s second quarter with 210 homes entering foreclosure, according to the report. This compares to Southwest Virginia, which saw a 168 percent increase over last year.

Haley attributes the lower amount of foreclosures to the stability of Danville and Southside’s housing market, which didn’t have a lot of people transitioning in and out of the area to rapidly appreciate home prices. Without the boom, there wasn’t as much of a bust.

“Overall, what we’re seeing is the stability,” Welch said. “It’s easy to be optimistic about our future. All of our infrastructure is in place for growth. As long as our community feels good, our housing market is going to remain steady.”

Haley agreed both need and consumer confidence will impact future home sales.

The decline in mortgage rates reflect signs of weakening confidence in the economy, said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac via news release.

July’s consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level since August 2009, based on the Reuters/University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey.

“We see these as part of the normal pattern of ebbs and flows in recovery and believe that there is sufficient momentum to carry the U.S. economy forward, albeit moderately,” Nothaft said via news release.

By the numbers
• The median home sales price in Southside Virginia reached its highest level since August 2007 in May at $115,500.
• June home sales in Southside were 34 percent higher than in May, marking the highest sales volume since August 2007.

Second quarter home sales compared to 2009
• Danville: 123, up 20.6 %
• Pittsylvania County: 65, up 29.9 %
• Martinsville: 66, down 12 %
• Henry County: 87, up 19.2 %
• Halifax County: 61, up 7 %
• Virginia: 28,279, up 6.4 %
Source: Virginia Association of Realtors “Trends in Virginia’s Housing Markets” report
For more info and to view the report, visit www.varealtor.com/homesales.