Briar Chapel Home Sales Up 45 Percent

Sales in Briar Chapel surged 45 percent YTD over the same period last year. This is very much in line with Triangle home sales, which are up 41 percent in April as buyers continue to snatch up properties from an ever-shrinking inventory of homes on the market.

Increasing demand and dwindling supply is creating plenty of frustrated buyers, as the most sought-after homes sell quickly – typically after receiving multiple offers. More specifically, the average time on market to sell across the Triangle is down 14% to 107 days.

In fact, the Triangle now only has a 3-month supply of homes on the market at the current pace of sales. This is down from an 9- to 10-month supply a year ago.

Low inventory levels, and the intense competition for the homes that are selling, is helping to boost home prices 4.5 percent in the Durham-Chapel Hill market in March compared with the same period a year ago, according to CoreLogic. In addition, 70 percent of the homes that sold in April were at or above their list price, up from 58 percent in January, according to MLS.

To learn more about these latest statistics, read the recent article by News & Observer.

Get $1000 Towards Solar Power System from Southern Energy Management

As many of you already know, we recently invested in a 4.8kW solar photovoltaic system on our home in Briar Chapel. So far, we have been extremely pleased with the results, and wanted to share our experience with you in the hopes you might also consider generating your own clean energy.

Our system consists of 20 Bosch Aleo Mono 240 panels, a Power-One PVI-4.2 Inverter, and eGauge home energy monitor. It is mounted on one side of the roof above our garage (pictured above). We were able to take advantage of State and Federal tax credits to offset 65% of the total cost of the system. In addition, we also received a $3980 rebate as members of Progress Energy's Sunsense Program.

In addition to the obvious feel-good aspects of generating our own energy, the system has provided several benefits so far:

• Reduced our monthly energy costs - our last power bill was only $16 compared to $95 last year.
• Reduced our HERS rating from 78 to 51.
• Improved the value of our home.
• Improved the return on money we had sitting in the bank from virtually nothing to 6-7%.

We chose to work with Southern Energy Management (SEM), a talented team of folks who handled the entire project from start-to-finish. This was the same company that did our original home energy analysis when we built our home.

If you'd like to learn more about how SEM can help you save money on your utilities and become more energy independent, complete this form to schedule a free consultation. In addition to determining whether it makes sense for you to invest in solar, they'll provide you with an estimate to purchase and install a similar system. As a reader of this blog, you'll also receive $1000 off the current best promotion featured by SEM should you decide to proceed with purchasing a system.