Hot spell.

• Author: Dudash, April
• Position: NC TREND: Triangle Region

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Hot, strong and interesting. Those are the three words Phyllis Brookshire uses to describe the Raleigh housing market. As president of Allen Tate Realtors, the Raleigh native oversees 1,400 real-estate agents in four regions of the Carolinas.

In many parts of Raleigh and the Triangle, there aren't enough homes for sale to keep up with demand, and new homes are not being built fast enough to satiate all buyers and price levels. Homes in desirable neighborhoods throughout the region are selling within days or, sometimes, hours.

"Every market has something that's unique about it," Brookshire says. "This one is really about lack of inventory, and we have a good economy here. We have job creation. We're still very affordable compared to most places."

Raleigh has about a 2.3-month inventory of homes, according to a June report by the Triangle MLS, while the national average is 4.6 months.

A May study by Realtor.com identified Raleigh as one of the top 10 hot spots for relocations in the U.S. The website examined census data, cross-metro moving requests and web search traffic. It's also a top destination for millennials, according to a June report by the National Association of Realtors.

The result is a seller's paradise in the Triangle, and homeowners are being courted from all sides. Interested homebuyers are sending letters to sellers explaining why they should be their top pick. Some homes for sale line up as many as 20 showings their first day on the market. Realtors are trying to woo homeowners who don't have their homes listed yet by sending postcards and making cold calls, Brookshire says.

"Sometimes you just need a little trigger to think about it, and some people are getting ready to put their house on the...