According to a report of a real estate foreclosures service provider, increase in foreclosure listings in Raleigh-Cary metro area was around 64% in the 2nd quarter of 2008. This percentage increase was found after comparing the data with the same period in last year, i.e. the 2nd quarter of 2007. It is also worth mentioning that there were as many as 1,515 homes in this area with foreclosure notice.

All this means that Raleigh foreclosures are enough to provide you a chance of buying a home at lower price within your budget constraints. But, if you really want to know about the profitability of your decision, you need to pay attention to the latest condition of real estate market.

To achieve this task, you have to consider the number of listings. This is something which informs you about the tendency to offer homes for sale. Following are two of the graphs taken from Trulia.com to help you understand few important factors which can affect your investment decision.

This graph shows that there is a consistent increase in the number of listings from Feb11 till Mar 04. It shows more homes are now available for you to choose from. But, you have to consider the median price to get an idea about the existing value of homes in here.

Median price from 2000 to 2009 is being listed in this graph. You can see that median price has not undergone some major change. It’s pretty consistent throughout. But when you delve more into the details, you will find that a decrease in the median price in the first quarter of 2009. Actually $175,250 was the median price for a home in Raleigh for Dec 08 to Feb 09, which was actually a decrease of $250 as compared to the previous quarters. But, when compared to the same period in last year, the decline in median price was around 1.5%.

Now, due to this change in median price, it is obvious to have a change in the number of sales, which is quite evident in the following graph.

Although there is a decrease in listings, you must keep in mind that strong economy of Raleigh is expected to make things better in near future and that’s the reason why you can invest in Raleigh foreclosures in anticipation of profit.

When foreclosed properties are taken over by banks and lenders, they are considered as bad investments. The banks want to close the books on these properties as quickly as possible. They have no option but to sell them through an auction. They will quote low asking prices so as to attract as many buyers as possible.

There have been many real estate foreclosure auctions in Raleigh. These auctions become popular by the day as many first-time homebuyers and investors rush to get properties they want. There are hundreds of properties that are sold over the weekends. The properties are attractive as most of them are located at prime locations and suburbs.

Foreclosed properties are offered at a much discounted rate. In some instances, some are sold at less than half their original market value. Investors are putting their money in these properties hoping to resell them when the housing industry starts to recover.

Despite large turnouts at Raleigh foreclosures, experts still say the market is unstable. There are still many homeowners in default or in a pre-foreclosure state. Foreclosures are expected to continue in the coming months. With this is mind, it is wise to buy a home in Raleigh before the housing market recovers and prices start to rise.

Many first-time homebuyers have taken advantage of the $8,000 tax cut provided to those who haven’t owned a house during the last three years. People are shifting from rental apartments to owning their own homes. Even college students and recent graduates are buying Raleigh home foreclosure listings and are paying mortgage rates averaging at $300, the same amount that they would have been paying if they were staying in a rental house.