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Home builder Raymond King likes what he sees in Fayetteville's market: People are looking.

"Last year, you'd see nobody. It was very slow," said the owner of King Construction Inc. "This year, I've seen a big increase in activity. I stay on the job sites a lot, and I can see people are riding around and looking at houses. Traffic is definitely up."

The latest numbers for new home sales appear to back him up. For June and July, volume of sales for new homes was nearly on par with the same period last year, according to figures from the Multiple Listing Service.

And while fewer existing homes are selling than last year, sale prices have held steady near record levels.

For new homes, the average price of the 207 that sold in July was $212,611, the highest since last fall.

Closings on new homes had been down by as much as 25 percent this spring, compared to the same periods of 2008.

Volume on existing home sales remains well below last year, though. The 359 closings in July were 20 percent fewer than July 2008.

The July sales also were down from June, when 380 existing homes sold.

Jay Dowdy, president of the Fayetteville Regional Association of Realtors, said the decline from June may be a result of a longer timetable regarding loan approvals. Dowdy said it can take 45 days to get a loan approved, when it used to take as little as two weeks.

The average price of existing homes this summer has held steady just above $141,000 - the highest ever in the MLS, with the exception of June 2008 when prices hit nearly $144,000.

"I think the prices are going to keep going up," Dowdy said. "A lot of folks who were renting are realizing, with the interest rates, it's the time to buy."

Dowdy also credits the positive national exposure Fayetteville has received as another factor in home sales. Zillow.com, which analyzes home values based on its own formula, has ranked Fayetteville as No. 1 in the U.S. for appreciating home values over the past three quarters.

Zillow said Fayetteville's median home value jumped 13.4 percent in the second quarter, compared with the same quarter in 2008.

King, who builds spec homes in west Cumberland County, said of the three price ranges - $160,000, $190,000 and $240,000 - the highest-price homes have sold the best this year and last year.

"I think people in that price range do not tend to be first-time home buyers and are not as restricted by economic conditions," King said. "The lower-level homes are mostly starter homes or second homes.''

Dowdy said he is seeing steady sales in the ranges of $165,000 and $225,000 to $245,000.