As the year winds to a close, Shelby County home sales remained strong in November, continuing the nearly uniform rise in average sales price, volume and overall units that has been indicative of the local housing market in 2017.

Shelby County home sales and average price both ticked up 4 percent in November compared to a year ago. (Daily News File/Alan Howell)

The average Shelby County home sales price in November was $170,324, a 4 percent increase from November 2016, according to real estate information company Chandler Reports, chandlerreports.com. The volume of home sales, meanwhile, reached $252 million, up 4 percent from $240 million a year ago.

The number of units sold increased an almost identical amount, with 1,482 sales recorded for the month compared with 1,421 last November.

Though this time of year is typically slower, Vinh Le with First National Realty said this month has the potential to be his best of the year.

“I’ve already had four closings and I have three or four more coming up,” Le said.

He added that most of his recent sales have been new homes, a trend he expects to continue in 2018.

“(Builders) are starting a lot of construction now, so they will be ready by March or April to meet the demand for the springtime,” Le said.

Looking ahead to 2018, Le said he does not anticipate the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to raise its short-term rate by a quarter-point will hamper the market next year.

“It is up, but it’s only barely up,” Le said. “I think 2018 will be another good year.”

Existing-home sales in November rose 5.7 percent, with 1,393 recorded last month compared with 1,318 in November 2016. The average price of existing homes, meanwhile, reached $162,991 in November, up 3 percent from $157,688 a year ago.

Eads’ 38028 ZIP code recorded the highest average price, at $583,267.

Sales of new homes fell 14 percent for the month, with 89 sales recorded compared with 103 in November 2016. The average price of a new home declined 11 percent to $285,106 from $321,638 a year ago.

However, on a more positive note, new-home sales within the Memphis city limits were up 93 percent from last November, with 27 recorded for the month averaging $136,444.

And more housing stock will be coming online in South Memphis in the coming months as Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis begins construction on Cedar Heights, a 32-home subdivision in Castalia Heights that the nonprofit unveiled Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Paul Young, director of Housing and Community Development for the city of Memphis, was on hand for the announcement and said it is crucial for the city to support such efforts in order to grow the city’s housing inventory beyond already-successful areas like the Poplar corridor.

“If we don’t interject any type of intervention, that is the only way the market will go,” Young said. “In many communities, you can’t build housing that makes financial sense unless you have support from federal, local and state agencies.”

He said efforts like these that aim to grow the population in the city core are at the heart of Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s Memphis 3.0 initiative.

“That’s going to help us address many of the challenges we have around housing, transportation and economic development,” Young said. “All of these things are interrelated.”

BUILDING PERMITS

Developers pulled 54 new-home permits averaging $367,652 in October 2017, down from the 79 averaging $296,744 that were filed last October.

Regency Home Builders was the top builder in October, with 13 recorded new-home sales averaging $304,400 and 11 new-home permits averaging $236,754.

Arlington/Lakeland’s 38002 ZIP recorded the most new-home permits in October, with 13 averaging $373,392.

FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY

Shelby County residential foreclosures continued to decline in November, according to Chandler Reports, with 130 recorded for the month – a 6 percent decrease year over year.

Of those, the average foreclosure amount was $84,358 and the average tax appraisal value was $103,329.

Cordova North’s 38016 ZIP code had the highest foreclosure inventory value, $14 million across 92 properties, while Westwood’s 38109 ZIP code had the most homes in foreclosure inventory through November, with 148 properties valued at $6 million.

Among lenders, Fannie Mae had the highest foreclosure inventory, with 136 homes valued at $15 million.

Bank sales – or foreclosure sales – represented 7 percent of all Shelby County homes sold in November. The 100 bank sales recorded last month marked a 29 percent decrease year over year. The volume of bank sales dropped 10 percent to $9.9 million.

Non-bank sales, meanwhile, increased 8 percent to 1,382 last month, with the volume of non-bank sales increasing 5 percent to $242 million.

Chandler Reports is a division of The Daily News Publishing Co.