Recently while reading an article about the housing market in Kiplinger magazine, we realized that many of you may feel you missed out as the first time home buyer’s tax credit draws to an end. The real story is that with mortgage rates at historic lows, hovering around 5%, there is still time to reap rewards. Is now the time for you to buy? Let’s look at some numbers.

According to the National Association of Realtors, at a national level, the median price for a single family home is $163,600. The local Wilmington, NC market saw a 14% decline in the past year with the current average sales price of $219,813. Although we are seeing our fair share of short sales and foreclosures, we aren’t riddled like some areas of the nation but the local unemployment rate of 9.7 % may play a role in further price declines.

Freddie Mac predicts mortgage rates near 5.7% for a 30 year fixed rate by the end of 2010. If you continue to wait hoping for prices to drop further any financial gain you could realize may be swallowed up by increased mortgage rates.

If you must sell before you are in position to purchase, get your home realistically priced from the start. Unfortunately, we see sellers who followed the market with their pricing strategy instead of pricing the home ahead of the market. Your home will not be worth more than it is right now; at least for the foreseeable future. We remind our sellers that the current market competition forces us to be in a price war and a beauty contest. Your profits will be greater and the days on the market less if you price it right from the get go. We can advise you how to make your home appealing and priced right to move. Give us a call today 910-442-2030.

See the link below for more information from the Kiplinger article.
http://kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/nows-the-time-to-buy-a-home.html

You may remember that last January, Wilmington experienced a mere 82 real estate transactions, which was a 60% decline from the year before. While last spring picked up some, 2009 ultimately was the slowest year New Hanover County had seen since pre-millennium days. The good news is…

This January, Wilmington had 128 sales! While this hardly touches the city’s glory days (336 transactions in Jan 2006, for example), it’s certainly a lot healthier than last year, which hopefully means a healthier year to come.

In addition to this market update, I’d like to offer you first dibs on a deal before it becomes available to the public through the Multiple Listing Service.  Located on Hickory Knoll Road in the 28409 zip, this creek/marsh front cottage boasts spectacular views of the Intracoastal Waterway (see photo below).  Home is in great condition with hardwood floors, stone fireplace, butcher block island and Corian counters in the kitchen, large deck, and more. And the asking price is just $349,000! If you or someone you know has interest, please call 910-616-2171.

Happy New Year! As you are in the midst of obtaining the list of 2010 resolutions which normally have a tendency to consist of hefty promises to yourself like hitting the gym, or tossing a bad habit, you may want to be enlightened on one more worthwhile resolution! According to a survey available on Move.com, 18 percent of Americans resolved to become a homeowner in 2010. Why wait? With mortgage rates and property prices at an all time low, this is the perfect time to buy your first home! If that is not convincing enough, maybe the extension of the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit will persuade you. The first time home buyer tax credit has been extended to April 30th 2010. Although that may seem right around the corner, the purchaser will have up until July 1, 2010 to close. Current homeowners who are looking to upgrade to a newer home can take advantage of the $6500 credit until April 30th, 2010, if they have lived in their primary residence for at least five years.

Making your move now would not only be smart, but extremely timely because of the favorable market conditions and bargain home prices! As a result of the incentives the extended home buyer tax credit has on first time home buyers, purchasing a home is finally in reach! This is a 2010 resolution that can be achieved in no time, and the Fine Coastal Living team is available to assist you throughout this exciting experience whether you are buying or selling your home!

I hope your 2009 ended well and that your New Year is off to a great start! Our team ended the year strong with a 60% increase in sales, putting us in the top 1 percentile of agents in Wilmington.

As a whole, New Hanover County ended the year with just over 2500 transactions, down 11% from 2008.  The ‘09 average sales price was also down 11% from last year and average days on market up 17%.  Total closed dollar amount (the sum of sales prices of all sold homes) declined 21%. 

With interest rates bouncing above and below 5% (for a 30-year fixed), this continues to be a great time to move up or buy a first home. If you or anyone you know has plans to buy, sell or invest in the New Year, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.  We are by no means the high-pressure sale type, and we promise to take great care of you!

Well, it certainly has been an embarrassingly long time since our last post. Though the Wilmington real estate market took a 55% nose dive in January (for # of transactions), we’ve been busy “getting after it.” In times like these our seller clients need more marketing and more consulting than ever before.

That being said, I recently came across an article from the NC Association of Realtors that’s worth sharing. Thank you NCAR for getting us out of our bloggers-block.

About the Economy:
> North Carolina is consistently at the forefront of affordable housing. Most recently, Cornelius was named one of the most affordable suburbs in the country. Fayetteville and Rocky Mount were both recognized for high price appreciations.
> In 2008, North Carolina welcomed the most newcomers (versus loss of residents) of any state, according. For every 100 people leaving, 180 moved in.

About Home Ownereship:
> In February, Gov. Bev Perdue signed an authorization that could save NC homebuyers more than $30 million.
> The National Association of REALTORS® estimates the impact of the stimulus package and lower interest rates on the housing market to be about 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package.
> Homes were more affordable in December 2008 than at any other point since the National Association of REALTORS® began its housing affordability index in 1970.

About Foreclosures:
> Nationally, January foreclosure filings decreased 10 percent compared to the previous month.
> In January, the number of foreclosures occurring in NC decreased 29.3 percent when compared to January 2008. Nationally, foreclosure rates were 18 percenthigher in January 2009.
> North Carolina continues to descend in the official ranking of foreclosure rates, and is 33rd nationally.
> Four states – Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida – represented 53 percent of the 274,399 foreclosures in the US in January.

WSJ published an article Tuesday that may be received as a slap in the face by many home owners.  The article (with the byline Americans still see real estate as their best shot at wealth. It may be wishful thinking.) addresses the future of home prices.   You can read the entire article here, however below are several points I found especially noteworthy.

• Economists predict home prices will continue to fall for 1-3 years and then “scrape along the bottom” for many years after
• Historically, house prices have risen at a rate just above inflation and roughly inline with household income (some experts even say it’s a bad idea to count on your home value rising at all!)
• Home values in the Carolinas are predicted to stay strong due to retirees and immigration
• We can expect major challenges in areas where there aren’t enough young buyers to absorb inventory from boomers who are selling

The moral of the story? Real estate is not a silver bullet to wealth, but rather a good way “to get rich slowly.”  If you need to sell, price your home to move NOW- prices are falling and will continue to do so for years.

From left: KW agents Christa Preville, Kriby Keene and Becky King at the 2008 Fashion Victims’ Ball

Keller Williams Realty and WWAY-TV3 have teamed up to host Wilmington’s 2nd Annual Fashion Victims’ Ball, December 6th from 7 to 11 pm at the Coastline Convention Center downtown. This holiday event has attendees wearing wacky, outlandish attire (”sacrificing fashion to benefit local charities”) and enjoying hefty hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine, a silent auction, raffle give-aways, and dancing to the music of Lenny Frank.

Charities benefiting from the affair include: Boys and Girls Club, Breast Cancer Awareness, Carolina Canines, Habitat for Humanity, Project Linus, and the Ronald McDonald House in Raleigh that helps out the parents of critically ill children from our area.

Last year, Keller Williams raised over $11k for local charities and danced the night away with over 500 “fashion victims” in attendance.  For more information, including how you can reserve your tickets for $25 each, please call the Fashion Victims’ Ball Hotline at 910-442-1728.

High inventory levels. An uncertain election. The seasonal slowdown. Our financial market. One thing is clear: the real estate shift is here.

But what does this mean? What are real estate professionals actually witnessing out there?

In general, we see selling prices in Wilmington resetting back to the levels they were at 2-3 years ago. Based on trends and activity, we expect them to reset even further- perhaps back to 2002/2003 levels. This presents an incredible opportunity to purchase a home (primary, second or otherwise) at a deep discount. While many buyers are balking at purchasing and taking a position in this market, it is in their best interest to do so for the following reasons:

1) If you wait until you know that the market has “hit bottom” before buying, the market will already have done so and be on its way to recovery. You will have missed out on the best deals available.

2) Interest rates (that have been at all-time historic lows for nearly 8 years now) are destined to rise. A year ago, it was feasible to get a 30 year, conventional mortgage for approximately 5.75%. This has now risen to approximately 6.5% at least. Any potential “savings” in lower sales prices will be eroded by a higher monthly payment due to increased rates.

The truth is this real estate market is most likely here to stay for 10-30 years. The main problem the we face right now is the average American family can no longer afford the average American home- illustrated in the graph below:

This happened when lending guidelines were loosened (in response to the idea that “every American should own a home,” ultimately creating an excess of buyers for which the market wasn’t prepared). When you increase demand, supply goes down and prices go up, resulting in the seller’s market of 2001-2005. Of course what goes up must come down, so we’re in the process of moving back towards equilibrium.

Obviously, this affordability issue effects the entire housing market as it limits the supply of buyers. The biggest problem with the local market is that the normal “buyers” can’t sell their homes in other areas and thus purchase homes here in Wilmington. Ultimately it’s a large chain reaction.

Between the lending institutions reaction to the market conditions (making qualification more difficult), the pricing and affordability issues, and the lack of real understanding about the market (many agents/sellers think that this problem will be corrected by next spring), the market is a bit mired.

It remains a great time to buy a home. The irony of this situation is that all the people in pain are now saying “this too shall pass.” Why weren’t they saying it when times were good? All time passes, whether good or bad. A great lesson for the future is to store up in times of plenty knowing that “this too shall pass.”

If you’re looking to take advantage of this crazy market, or if you’d like a consultation on how to sell during these times, please give us a call at 910-442-2030.

All thoughts and comments welcome.

It seems you can’t turn on the TV or radio these days without hearing about the doom and gloom of the housing market. Well in this post, I’d like to focus on the positive. The graph below shows the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage since 1972.

GREAT NEWS: rates are the lowest they’ve been in a long long time! Unlike what you hear on the news, there is money out there- and buyers are getting approved for financing everyday. So what exactly does a low rate mean to you? Well, a 1/2% in rate = about $6k more in sales price you can afford per $100,000. Again, great news!

But please also note, buyers waiting for rates to drop even further may miss out. Home loan rates have benefited from the weakness in the financial markets. However, the Fed just lowered the Federal Funds Rate and Discount Rate by 0.50%. In an unprecedented emergency move, central banks across the globe joined in lowering interest rates. This could cause home loan rates to rise in the coming weeks and months if confidence returns to the stock markets.

Thank you JD Terry of East Carolina Bank for providing this data. Feel free to call him anytime with questions about the market: 910-799-4106.

Our grand opening party was a huge success! While Keller Williams Realty has been in Wilmington for over four years, we just recently moved to a new office space located at 5911 Oleander Drive. The chamber kicked off the event at 4:30PM with a ribbon cutting, and the rest of the evening was a social whirlwind of friends, family, clients, vendor partners, and Realtors. We estimate several hundred guests came through our doors! From the Champagne fountain to the sushi, there was no shortage of great food and drinks. Currently, Keller Williams in Wilmington has just over 80 agents. Nationally, KW has over 73,000 agents and is the fourth-largest U.S. residential real estate firm. Our company believes in treating associates as partners and shares knowledge, policy control and profits on a system-wide basis. This is truly a phenomenal place to work! Thank you everyone who attended our grand opening party- your support is invaluable!