By Jessica Coates
jessica.coates@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Both the average closed price for houses and the average volume of houses sold in Salisbury and Rowan County have increased since last year, according to Rowan/Salisbury Association of Realtors President Mary Arey.

Arey, who runs Arey Realty in Rowan County, compared data gathered from two six month periods — October 2016 to April 2017 and October 2017 to April 2018 — to come to that conclusion.

According to Arey’s data, the average closed price for homes in Salisbury proper — not including unincorporated areas of the county with Salisbury addresses — has risen from $141,000 in 2016-17 to $160,000 in 2017-18 — an approximate 12 percent increase.

The average closed price for homes in Rowan County, not including Salisbury proper, has risen from $144,000 in 2016-17 to $155,000 in 2017-18 — an approximate 8.2 percent increase.

The average volume of houses sold in Salisbury proper has risen from 170 units in 2016-17 to 180 units in 2017-18 — an approximate 6 percent increase.

The average volume of houses sold in Rowan County, not including Salisbury proper, has risen from 495 units in 2016-17 to 520 units in 2017-18 — an approximate 4.5 percent increase.

Arey said most new construction that has occurred over the last year has been in the county, outside of Salisbury proper.

According to the Rowan County Building Inspections Department, 43 new construction permits were issued in March for residential homes in Rowan County. Twenty-one of those permits were for addresses attributed to Salisbury, but the listing did not specify whether the addresses were in Salisbury proper or unincorporated territory with a Salisbury address.

Four hundred and sixty-nine new construction permits for residential homes in Rowan County were issued between March 2017 and March 2018.

Arey attributed the increases of both the average volume of houses sold and the average closed prices for houses to the prospect of rising interest rates and a low inventory of houses, which has driven up demand.

“Inventory is low across the whole country,” Arey said by email. “There was a big drop in construction during and after the recession. Many builders went out of business altogether.”

Arey said there are currently about 240 active listings in Rowan County — excluding Salisbury proper — and about 110 active listings in Salisbury proper.

The average list price for the active listings in Rowan County— excluding Salisbury proper — is $276,155. Arey said that average number includes a property valued at $2.8 million.

The average list price for the active listings in Salisbury proper is $210,000.

Arey’s data was drawn from local and regional multiple listing services, or MLSs. She said her data does not include numbers from private transactions, which she said are not readily available.

With regard to commercial construction, 48 new construction permits were issued between March 2017 and March 2018, according to the Rowan County Building Inspections Department.

Four of those 48 permits were issued in March 2018.

“The feeling from other agents, they’re confident in our area continuing to grow,” Arey said. “But we need more businesses and need school statistics to improve and the crime rate to go down. Those are the three key factors.”

Contact reporter Jessica Coates at 704-797-4222.