In the latest Eastern North Carolina Home Sales Index, pending sales, a key indicator of sales that will take place over the next 30-45 days, rose slightly for the first time in 6 months following the end of the home buyer tax credit. The number of pending sales at the beginning of November was 1,523 compared to the beginning of September, which was at 1,505. This represents a 1.2% increase over the previous month.

Despite the slight rise overall, only 3 of the 11 markets actually saw gains. The fairly substantial gains in those three markets offset the relatively small drops in the other 8 markets. The largest decrease was 23.8% in Wilson County, while the largest increase was 28.4% in Wayne County.