How to be Successful in a Highly Competitive Submarket

Highlighiting Apex, a Submarket of Raleigh MSA

As Parade of Homes kicks off, I thought I’d check out one of the more active submarkets in the Raleigh MSA, Apex.

I’ve used data from MarketNSight, a data and graphic software service that utilizes data from MLS. The data reflects sales year to date through August 14, 2019.

As the map shows, most new home sales are taking place in the western portion of the submarket near New Hill.

The average single-family detached (SFD) resale in Apex is 18 years old, 2,484 sq. ft. and $381,057. That is up 5% from this time last year. The average new SFD is $487,757 and is 3,085 sq. ft. This average price is down 5%. The drop in new home price is due to a couple of factors. The first is supply. There is double the amount of supply, with 248 closings during this time period in 2018 vs 495 in 2019. More supply usually has a negative effect on price. The second factor impacting price is the size of the homes. The new homes offered this year are slightly smaller than in 2018 by approximately 200 sq. ft.

There are currently over 400 new home communities in Apex but of those, only eight communities have sales of 30+ year to date. What sets those communities apart? Most of them have at least three product segments and offer amenities. Providing amenities buyers want and offering several price points helps these builders compete in a very competitive market area.