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It’s a great time to buy a home in the Triad right now — but it’s a harder market if you’re trying to sell.

Prices have dropped, inventory is substantial and choice locations have homes available.

But consider the poor seller right now. The numbers tell the tale:

• The number of existing single-family homes in the Greensboro market that sold in the first quarter of 2009 was 521 — down 12.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 31.4 percent below sales levels in the first quarter a year ago. The bubble, even though it wasn’t as inflated here, has decidedly burst.
• The number of existing homes for sale was up more than 4 percent in the first quarter over the previous quarter. But another figure suggests sellers are simply keeping their homes off the market until the economy improves: The number of existing homes for sale was down nearly 5 percent from a year ago.
• The amount of time on the market before a home is sold rose by 9.4 percent.

Prices have declined among those homes that did sell, said G. Donald Jud, the economist who compiled the survey for Triad MLS Inc. of North Carolina.

Jud, who uses a formula based on “quality adjustment,” which takes into account the condition of the home, reported that the average price of homes in the region dropped 5.1 percent from the previous quarter and 11.2 percent below the first quarter a year ago.

But recent numbers suggest there’s reason for hope, said Betty Smith, president of the Greensboro Regional Realtors Association.

That’s because monthly sales have been rising steadily since January. May closed with 426 units sold in Greensboro, and the Triad MLS reported 974 units across the region.

“We have seen our numbers rise February ’09 through May ’09,” Smith said.

The average price of a home has been dropping in favor of the buyer. Jud reports that the average price of a home sold in Greensboro in the first quarter of 2008 was more than $190,000. That number dropped to a little less than $170,000 in the most recent first quarter.

“Our affordability index is the best we have seen, but with interest rates ticking up slightly that might change upward a little,” Smith said.

Top sales areas in Guilford County, according to the report, were:

• Southern Greensboro, including Forest Oaks, with 71 sales in the first quarter.
• Northeast Greensboro along U.S. 29, with 55 sales.

The most expensive ZIP codes were in eastern Kernersville, where three homes sold for an average of $419,500 and Summerfield, with 14 sales averaging $369,829.

The best inventory of homes was in the Colfax and Summerfield areas.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.barron@news-record.com