Raleigh
North Carolina’s capital seems to have gotten a free pass where the housing slump is concerned. Prices have been buoyed by job growth in the Research Triangle, home to dozens of tech firms. Total sales in the first quarter of this year were the fifth highest on record. In some cities, suburbanites stung by gas prices are moving downtown in favor of walkable neighborhoods. But not in Raleigh. “People move here to get away from that type of living,” says local market analyst Stacey Anfindsen, only partly in jest. Although downtown Raleigh has added hundreds of condos and lofts, the real growth has come in suburbs like Cary, Morrisville and Apex, all on the western side of Raleigh, where home prices have risen steadily.
The subdivision of Preston, where prices are up 3.5 percent over last year, reigns as the area’s übersuburb. The northwest Cary neighborhood was bankrolled in the 1990s by Jim Goodnight, founder of software giant SAS, and supersizes the standard suburban amenities: Most lots are at least a quarter-acre, double the size of newer developments, and prices approach $500,000. Parents can choose from a roster of lauded private and public schools. John Minicucci, a technology analyst, moved his family to Preston in May after stints in New York and Vancouver, B.C., and chose the neighborhood in part because it is already built out; it doesn’t run the risk of being flooded with discounted properties because of overbuilding. “Since this area didn’t really experience the boom, it won’t be as susceptible to tanking,” he says. And he’s loving perks like abundant tee times. Like more than 60 percent of Preston residents, Minicucci belongs to the local country club, which hosts 54 holes of championship golf, two tennis facilities and three swimming pools.
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