The Week in Review Wilmington NC November 23, 2008

The Week in Review

…..your Wilmington Connection

November 23rd 2008

Chilly start to the Week…I would like to wish you and your Family a Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks is an expression of gratitude, not an expression of selfishness, which unfortunately, we have all gotten too accustomed of doing. ou know, we’re in the ‘Me Society.’ It’s all about me, me, me.

But as we draw to the Thanksgiving holiday, I trust that we’ll all take a little time and reflect on all we have to be thankful for.

 

2.5 Million…to Dredge Intracoastal Waterway

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre’s office on Thursday afternoon announced that $2.5 million has been secured for maintenance dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway.

The federal funds were included in the recently passed Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009.

President Bush had proposed less than $1 million for waterway dredging in North Carolina. The Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the waterway, received $5.5 million for dredging in the 2008 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

“This is truly a blessing for public safety, emergency preparedness, tourism, our boating community and our marine businesses,” McIntyre said in a release announcing the funding. “An open and navigable Intracoastal Waterway greatly contributes to a thriving economy, and I am thrilled these federal funds have come through!”

The release also states that the work will be centered in Brunswick County and start next month.

Titan Cement Plant

New Hanover County officials worked quietly for three years to lure Titan America LLC to Castle Hayne. When the news finally broke in April, county officials said the new cement plant would create jobs and send a positive ripple through the regional economy. But a growing number of concerned residents say the environmental price is too high. And they are preparing for a fight.

New Home Sales

Lost among the bank failures and resale downsizing has been the plight of new home sales and marketing companies. Once the high-flying benefactors of an explosion of new home sales, they now find themselves wondering where future closings will come from.

While there is excessive new home inventory at the moment, builders have withdrawn from the market and will not return any time soon. In regions with limited developable land, such as San Diego, they won’t be back at all. Infill, multi-family, and urban redevelopment characterize a builder’s options. They may not offer the economy of scale required by large builders nor the large promotional budget needed to support the infrastructure of a sales and marketing company.

For the most part, new home sales and marketing companies are paid for their expertise and act in a consultant’s capacity, advising developers. At the moment, most of that advice is being directed toward lowering prices because, in reality, it doesn’t matter how much traffic you generate if the traffic perceives the product as overpriced.

Generally, they are the organizations who coordinate the work of an ad agency, designer, and a public relations firm while also providing an on-site sales force. Compensation is usually a commission at closing and, possibly, bonuses for hitting certain milestones. In many ways, new home marketers aren’t all that different from a resale real estate agent.

But, the perception is that new home sales and marketing companies are able to do things that individual real estate agents cannot. Advice on a print media ad campaign or directing public relations initiatives are their primary activities. Generating traffic to the sight and converting that traffic to sales are their objectives.

Obviously, the developer feels as though he hired the consultant to help him make a profit. But, with business dwindling, new home sales and marketing companies can be tempted to not be emphatic for fear of losing the account altogether. As a result, builders have been chasing the market down, compounding expenses and making sales even more difficult to close.

….until next week in The Week in Review

Tina

The Week in Review Wilmington NC November 15, 2008

The Week in Review

….your Wilmington Connnection

November 15, 2008

Currently their are 2809 homes on the market with 243 under contract and a total of 1401 solds in the last 6 months. Interest rates are still low so its still an optimal chance to buy. Why wager on the stock market that appears to be so unreliable. If you would like any info regarding what your home may be worth please feel free to fill out the CMA form here and I will give you an up to date market analaysis.

 

Construction halted on two Brunswick County developments

One of the state’s largest community developers has stalled construction on two developments in southwestern Brunswick County, leaving municipal officials wondering if they’ll ever see the tax base there grow.

Wakefield Development Co. has stopped building at San Rio Ocean and River Club in Shallotte and Kingfish Bay in Calabash, said Jim Wiseman, project manager and senior vice president of the company’s coastal division.

“We are in a maintenance mode as we negotiate with our lenders,” Wiseman said of San Rio, which is planned to be a gated resort-style community with a Caribbean theme off of Gray Bridge Road.

Original plans for that development called for more than 2,000 single-family homes, townhomes and condos. The properties had been projected to be worth more than $800 million and would generate $3 million to $4 million in local revenue to the town of Shallotte.

But only a partially constructed model house stands on the property, said Shallotte Town Administrator Paul Sabiston.

He said the town expected to see at least a handful of houses there already.

The town and the developer have disagreed before about plans for the community and the town’s regulations, but Sabiston said he hasn’t heard much from the developer lately except for a notice that Wakefield was renewing its bond for phase three of the development.

What will it take to get consumers back to buying:

Financing remains one of the biggest issues for both buyers and sellers. As long as mortgage credit is not widely available, the demand for real estate purchases will remain low.

In addition to facilitating selling of distressed properties and nonperforming loans to buttress the capital base of lenders, government must have an active role in ensuring that mortgage credit is available. FHA, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have jumped in aggressively to fill the void. Still, there are gaps in the product mix in the market and many consumers are being left behind. For instance, many minority and immigrant borrowers lack traditional credit history but can demonstrate payment patterns related to rent, phone, utilities and so on. A new provision within the FHA bill includes the development of an automated underwriting solution for alternative credit borrowers to ensure that individuals with consistent but alternative credit history can get a fair priced loan. This has huge importance to minorities that are otherwise in a position to buy now.

What is happening in the market locally and how is the national discussion about real estate affecting that?

Many parts of the Wilmington real estate market’s long decline began to slow this summer, but the overall financial market meltdown and the economic slowdown have triggered additional fallout locally. The implementation of the federal Emergency Economic Stabilization Act will have a far-reaching impact on the recovery. If implemented well, the new law will help to stabilize the market, reduce the number of foreclosures and rebuild confidence in the housing market. We need to keep people in their homes. It is critical that those affected by the crisis are given an opportunity to recover by getting a loan that they can afford and keep.

.…until next week in The Week in Review

Tina

The Week in Review Wilmington, NC November 9, 2008

 

The Week in Review

….your Wilmington Connection

November 9, 2008

Hooray! The Elections are over….Now we can all get back to making plans for the upcoming year. Thinking of buying? Waiting for….? the bottom to drop out? Don’t wait too long house price are hovering about the same they were 5 years ago….that’s right 2003 prices. Dont even think of waiting….spring is around the corner…and prices will start bumping up again. Have a look at what is out there.

Home borrowing limit stops climbing amid slump

As housing prices climbed over the first half of the decade, so did the amount a buyer could finance and still get the best mortgage rates.

That borrowing limit, for a so-called conforming loan, rose from $252,700 in 2000 to $417,000 this year.

Now, because home prices have stopped climbing, the

limit on most borrowing has too. So, next year the limit on conforming loans will remain $417,000 in most areas of the country, including Southeastern North Carolina, according to information from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has regulated mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since their rescue in September.

Conforming loans are bought by Fannie and Freddie and now are backed by the U.S. government. Loans above $417,000, called jumbo loans, are not bought by Fannie and Freddie and, as a result, are considered riskier by investors and carry higher interest rates.

The rate Friday on a 30-year, fixed conforming mortgage was just over 6 percent, while that on a jumbo was about 7.5 percent.

Wilmington to invest $7 million in private development near convention center

City Council on Wednesday evening approved a development agreement with Riverfront Holdings II, LLC, which plans to build hotels, a marina, office and retail space and condominiums on the Northeast Cape Fear River just north of the city’s convention center site over the next 20 years.

The vote came after a public hearing during the regular City Council meeting, but no one spoke in favor of or against the request, and the hearing was quickly closed.

Steve Shuttleworth, of Riverfront Holdings, told council members that the four-phase, $750 million project would eventually include 24 buildings, three hotels, office and retail space, 908 residential units, about 200 boat slips and 4,430 parking spaces.

Under the agreement, the city agrees to provide some street and utility improvements, and pay a percentage of the cost of the bulkhead around the marina. The city will also extend the Riverwalk through the Riverfront Holdings property at a cost of an estimated $4.3 million. The developer will provide the land to build it on.

 

…until next week in The Week in Review

Tina

 

The Week in Review November 2, 2008 Wilmington NC

The Week in Review

...your Wilmington Connection

November 2, 2008

 

Wow! Halloween is gone and Thanksgiving is on the way. The air is cooler and so is the real estate market. But never fear, a turn around is near. If you are planning on buying better take advantage soon, no matter what kind of market we are in prices always tend to hold strong or inch up more towards the spring which is the start the busiest time for real estate. Let me know if you are considering on purchasing and lets get you started.

Half of U.S. Homeowners Still Do Not Think Their Home’s Value Has Decreased

Months of government bailouts and stock market volatility brought Americans’ perception of the values of their own homes closer to reality than it was last quarter, but surprisingly half of U.S. homeowners still believe their home is insulated from the nation’s home value declines, according to the Zillow Q3 Homeowner Confidence Survey(1).

This quarter, 49% of homeowners said they think their own home’s value has increased or stayed the same over the past year. However, nearly three-quarters (74%) of homes have lost value in the past 12 months, according to preliminary analysis of Zillow’s Q3 Real Estate Market Reports, which will be released Nov. 12.

Perception-Reality Gap Shrinks in Third Quarter, but Many Still Show “Not My Home” Sentiment

Homeowners are not quite as confident as they were in the second quarter, when 62% said their homes either increased in value or remained the same, but a significant gap between the reality of home values and homeowners’ perceptions persists. This is despite the timing of the survey – it was fielded from Oct. 7 to 9, during the worst week in stock market history.

Zillow’s Home Value Misperception Index(2), which measures homeowners’ perceptions of their home’s value over time, shrank to 16 in the third quarter from 32 in the second quarter. An index of zero would mean homeowners’ perceptions were in line with actual values.

Homeowners in the South and West had the most accurate perceptions of home values. In the South, where 67% of homes decreased in value, the Misperception Index was 13. In the West, where 85% of homes declined in value, the Misperception Index was also 13. Northeasterners’ perceptions were most out of line with reality: 71% of homes there lost value, and the Misperception Index was 20.

Re/Max turns to consolidation amid housing slump

 

Re/Max Coastal Properties plans to consolidate its four Wilmington-area offices into one to remain profitable amid the region’s home-sales slump.

The franchise, owned by Bob McWaters, also plans to trim its roster of agents, said Danny McPherson, chief financial officer of Re/Max Coastal. He cited the area’s 52 percent drop in total dollar sales as well as the company’s 15 percent decline, both since 2005.

The firm currently has its corporate and commercial offices at 2018 Eastwood Road, plus sales offices downtown at 112 Market St., in Carolina Beach at 1300 Lake Park Blvd., and in Leland at 9111 Ocean Highway E.

 

Proposed international port may need new partner

The economy’s slide means the N.C. State Ports Authority might have to find a new private partner for its proposed N.C. International Terminal.

CenterPoint Properties of Oak Brook, Ill., reached a preliminary agreement with the Authority in June for the $2.3 billion port near Southport. But because of the depressed housing market and a struggling economy, members of CalEast Global Logistics, which owns CenterPoint, have limited capital, ports authority CEO Tom Eagar said Wednesday, after giving a presentation on port plans to the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce and its members at Surf Cinemas on Long Beach Road.

…..until next week in The Week in Review

Tina