The preliminary numbers for April 2011 are in and it appears that the market is slowing compared to last year. While the final numbers won’t be in until after May 15 (Realtors are notoriously lazy about recording their sales in the MLS), taking a look now gives an idea of which way the market is trending.

Between April 1 and April 29, 2011, there were 146 single family homes sold in New Hanover County. As a comparison, there were 155 single family homes sold between March 1 and March 29, 2011. For the entire month of March 2011, there were 177 homes sold, so we can probably expect another 15-20 sales to be recorded for the month of April, bringing the total number of single family home sales for April 2011 to between 160 and 170.

Compare this to the 242 single family homes sold in April 2010 and there is a strong reason to believe that the Wilmington NC Real Estate Market is slowing. I’ll take another look as on May 15 and we’ll find out the actual numbers for April 2011. All of this data is pulled from the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors MLS.

On a side note, please be on the lookout next week as I’m going to begin my luxury home pick of the week!

Until my oldest son, Caleb (now 7) said, “Dad, I want to play T Ball,” I had no clue that Wilmington, NC is such a great baseball town. Now, two years later, Caleb and my youngest son Oran are both playing in the Supper Optimist League- Caleb is playing machine pitch, Oran is playing T Ball. Supper Optimist is one of several youth leagues in Wilmington. Since 2009, I’ve gotten to know a little bit about the various baseball programs available here and want to pass on that knowledge to those of you that are baseball fans, those that are parents and anyone generally curious about what life in Wilmington is like.

While Wilmington is probably most famous for being the hometown of Michael Jordan, it actually has a huge baseball presence as well. There are a good number of former and retired pros including Trot Nixon, of Red Sox Fame, and Fletcher Bates who now owns and operates Coastal Athletics. Incidentally, Trot and Fletcher both graduated from New Hanover High School. In fact, Willie Stargell actually lived out the last years of his life here in Wilmington before passing away in 2001 and each year his foundation hosts the Willie Stargell Celebrity Golf Tournament.

If you are interested in getting your kids involved in baseball, there are youth baseball programs offered through the Supper Optimist Club, the Optimist Club of Winter Park, Cape Fear Optimist Club, and the Myrtle Grove Optimist Club. Additionally, the Wilmington Seahawks organizes youth travel teams. So, if you love baseball, Wilmington is a good place to be!

And on a final note, a shout out to Caleb- his team won tonight 14-2 and he went 3 for 3 against the machine. Not bad for his 2nd game of machine pitch!

In its new book, THE BEST 373 COLLEGES – 2011 EDITION, The Princeton Review has included UNCW in its list of best colleges in the southeast for the seventh consecutive year.

UNCW Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo said in a statement, “UNCW is proud to be recognized among such a prestigious group of universities.”

Robert Franek, author of the book says “Each of our 373 best colleges offers great academics and we salute them for that. However, they differ widely in their program offerings and campus culture. That’s why we don’t rank them 1-373. Instead we tally 62 ranking lists based entirely on how students at these schools rated their experiences at them.”
About 25 percent of the nation’s more than 2,500 four-year colleges make the Princeton Review’s region’s best lists.

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Cameron School of Business, the School of Nursing, the Watson School of Education and the Graduate School.

UNCW is known for its strength in the natural sciences which forms the core of its respected niche in marine science. Those involved in the school’s Center for Marine Science engage in basic and applied research, service and education.

UNCW also stands out in its creative writing program and film studies. Atlantic Monthly has named UNCW’s Master of Fine Arts in creative writing as one of the “Five Top Innovative/Unique Programs in Creative Writing. The Department of Film Studies makes use of its relationship with EUE/Screen Gems studios, a full-service film-production facility in Wilmington.

Keller Williams Realty, Inc., the fourth largest real estate company in North America, launched their Commercial Division last fall.

Buddy Norman, a veteran of commercial real estate, joined Keller Williams as president of this new division. Norman has more than 18 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, including leadership within international firms, such as The Staubach Company and Burnham Real Estate, which was acquired by Cushman & Wakefield. He has led the development of new business divisions and trained commercial agents all over the U.S. including Dallas, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and San Diego.  

Locally, Keller Williams Wilmington has also added several seasoned commercial and business brokers to its family including Dennis Musser and Rudie Malpass.  Dennis is the current President of the Realtors Commercial Alliance of South Eastern North Carolina and has worked in commercial and investment real estate since 1985.  Rudie has over 10 years experience in land development and and business brokerage.  So if there’s ever ANYTHING you need – from a place for your new restaurant, to the restaurant itself – please don’t hesitate give us a call!

Last Saturday Star News published a nice little article summarizing median home values and activity levels for various Wilmington zip codes.  You can click here to read it if you haven’t already.  In all, year-to-date activity for the area is off 29% from last year at this time and the average sales price is down 10.25%. 

Despite this downturn, our local Keller Williams office has increased market share by 49.10% over the past year.  And it gets better.  Our team’s personal sales business has also experienced an increase of around 40%.

“Why should I care?” you ask.

A few years ago, using just any agent to buy or sell worked fine.  But in a market like this, where prices and sales are falling rapidly, making the wrong decision is costly.  Time is money.  You owe it to your friends/ family/co-workers/whoever to make sure they get connected with a professional who is on the winning team.  We are passionate about helping people, and we love this business.  If you know someone who needs help buying or selling, please don’t hesitate to give us a call with their name and number.  Thanks and God bless!

I normally don’t like to poke fun at houses or other Realtor’s marketing, but this listing was too good to resist. Click here to view.

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