Housing in Durham stays strong

Despite a sagging U.S. housing market, Durham is still seen as a community with the potential for real estate growth and investment.

Consumer journalist Broderick Perkins describes the national housing market as “anemic at best,” but he lists all three cities in the Triangle—Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill—in his top 10 “Hottest Housing Markets for 2010” ranking published March 31 on AOL News.

Although Durham has seen a rise in unemployment and a decrease in real estate spending, experts say citizens have not experienced the effects of the recession to the same degree as those living in other U.S. cities. Perkins writes that Durham and other recovering housing markets are still not “housing-boom strong,” although they have shown signs of improvement.

Walden noted that as a whole, the Triangle possesses a robust underlying economy based on industries like health care, finance and the network of Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. The strength of the region’s economic foundation should cause the economy to grow faster than most others in the future, he added.

Sheena Johnson, director of communications and marketing for the Durham Chamber of Commerce, also attributed the strength of Durham’s economy to the prevalence of these sectors. Johnson added that the Durham community has allowed its industries to evolve over the years.

While the recent automotive industry crisis in Detroit has been “devastating” to that city’s economy, Durham has been able to avoid a similar fate through industry-based changes made in the past, said Carver Weaver, director of business retention for the Durham Chamber of Commerce.

“[A similar industry collapse] happened here 40 years ago when we realized that tobacco wasn’t going to be enough to sustain our economy,” Weaver said. Since then, Durham has expanded its economy and explored other ways to create a variety jobs, she added.

Weaver noted that Durham’s housing market has since benefitted from its wide range of real estate that has been able to accommodate residents of varying income levels, spanning from recent college graduates to established professionals.

“If you’ve just graduated from college or if you’re a [chief executive officer] in the [Research Triangle Park], we have housing options for you,” she said, adding that real estate prices can range from $150,000 to $1.5 million.

Weaver went on to say that because of Durham’s low costs of living and ample employment opportunities, businesses and individuals from other states have begun relocating to the city.

“[People] not only come here for the jobs, but also come here to start businesses,” she said. “If you have an economy that’s losing jobs, you don’t have developers building houses.”