22-25% Chance of SELLING home on area beaches! BUYERS are stealing beautiful homes all across the Wilmington area despite population BOOM!

Wilmington Area Real Estate Market and Trends Report...

22-25% Chance of SELLING home on area beaches! BUYERS are stealing beautiful homes all across the Wilmington area despite population BOOM! 40% of homes selling in Wilmington ...

"The difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." --Will Rogers

Huge things are happening all over the Wilmington area. Perhaps the most interesting are the thousands of jobs being produced in the near future. Another huge facility is coming to the area. Having almost 1 million square feet, a proposed state of the art distribution center will be quite a site just 5 minutes outside of Wilmington . The developer is in the process of engineering the infrastructure now. The construction of this building alone will create an economic engine for the area. Once finished, the various tenants would undoubtedly provide hundreds, or thousands of jobs. In addition, it would bring high income relocations, tax benefits, and the main use, massive state shipping port additions to the area.

Also, FORBES released it's top 100 metro areas for business and careers, and the results were point blank startling. First of all, this laid back beach town is competing with the biggest cities in America for career opportunities? 5 NC cities in the top 50!! More than any other state in America . Wilmington was #38, and Raleigh was #1. That's fine by me, we have the beach. That also means that thousands of affluent buyers from Charlotte & Raleigh will want nothing more than a vacation home that's just 2 hours away. Despite an economic slowdown elsewhere, multiple national hotel chains are working on projects downtown, and on the beaches. Our tourist industry is also booming! As a native of Wilmington , one thing I have witnessed is how our tourist driven economic machine has always been buffered from the rest of the country's problems. Year after year, it has never really faltered. The more the corporate job market continues to grow, that will change, but you can bank on it for some time still. Unemployment in this area is still lower than the national average as well. I can literally go on for hours about the opportunities in the Wilmington area right now (ask my wife and friends), but I will save that for another time. With so much growth, it's obvious that the Wilmington area housing market will make an astounding recovery. I'm not only telling my clients this, I am also living it. Jenna and I are in the process of finding a new home. We will rent our current home, waiting for the return of a seller's market, then sell it. We are also going to use this year as an opportunity to buy a beach house. With the right plan, we believe we will be able to cover all of the expenses on both properties, with rental income, and tax savings. This also brings me to my next point, what's the #1 sign that our market is doing well? It's still easy to get property loans. Despite the media's portrayal of a locked down credit market, my client's have had no problems.

Buyers:

In light of so much negative publicity, I understand how it may be tough to make that decision to jump in, but let me pose a question. In these shaky economic times, what else are you doing with your money? Savings and bonds rates have been nearly wiped out by the Fed's recent rate cuts, and will continue to go down. Commercial real estate which historically follows residential, is now on the same track housing was. Commodities, precious metals, etc are demonstrating all the obvious signs of a bubble about to burst. Even blue chip stocks with low returns cause palpitations once a week these days. Even in the technology age, 2008 has shown little tech innovation. Bottom line, we are in a type of recession. It's scary to have cash in hand considering the fed prints more every day. The value of money right now is in serious jeopardy. The fundamentals of real estate however never change. When the population is booming, the job market is strong, and the supply of homes is well regulated, the path is clear. Despite all that, sellers are terrified. Many of them bit off much more than they can chew, and amazing deals are being forged. Donald Trump said, "This is the market where fortunes are made." Also, with such a massive stimulus package meant for the hardest hit markets, wouldn't it make sense that this will create a boom in the markets that are still doing okay? You may be in a position where you want to buy, but have to sell your home first. No problem, consider this.

Sellers:

As I stated, selling in Wilmington right now is completely different than selling in other parts of the country. First of all, many parts of the nation have just begun to see tough times. In places lacking the fundamentals of strong jobs ( Ohio ), or supply regulation ( Miami ), expect to see major losses now, and for some time. If you get serious about your price and sell now, you may avoid a massive long term catastrophe. If your competition is at 200K, drop your price to 190K, then quickly to 185K if need be. In a declining market, it's going to happen eventually anyways right? Furthermore, when reduced to paper, it's usually clear that your expenses will wipe out gains from a higher price, considering your home will take longer to sell, and may be depreciating astonishingly fast. I see it all the time, one distressed seller can drop the value of an entire community 5% over night. While it may be a bad time for you to sell, it's also a bad time to sell in Wilmington . The difference, it won't be for much longer at all. You can typically find an equally good deal here, to what the buyer found in your home.

If you are selling in Wilmington , my advice is somewhat different unless you HAVE to sell, then that advice is even more important. As much as I think it is the time to buy, the inverse is true for selling. When considering selling, it's important to keep your emotions to a minimium. A good broker is the best way to do this.

With so much negative media, fear has become a driving force for many sellers. However, it's important that you not confuse risk with fear. By risk I am referring to your tolerance for further depreciation. Considering that anything is possible, if further depreciation is going to put you at great risk of foreclosure, or harming yourself, then that would warrant selling. However, if you are just afraid that you will lose money you don't absolutely have to have, you already did. Batten down the hatches, find a great renter for vacant homes, and thank me in the future by listing your home with me. What other broker would tell you that?

Now for the numbers.
Beach Property:

Carolina and Kure Beaches are still quite the buyer's market, although we are quickly working through the active inventory of homes. Down from nearly 1000 active properties just a few months ago, buyer's currently have about 700 homes to choose from. Also, in March of 2007, the average sold price of a 3 BR home was 369K, in March 08, a healthy 453K. Driven by larger high end properties, home prices still fell from this time last year though. Lower priced homes are selling better than more expensive homes. The average days on market also dropped from 205 in 07 to 120 last month. Wrightsville Beach is experiencing a different situation. Apparently the market in WB was the last to cool off in our area. Therefore they appear to be experiencing the absolute bottom. Only 6 properties sold in March of 08, opposed to 96 one year ago. The days on market also went up from 143 in 07, to 179 this year. I would expect to see a faster recovery here though, because there was less investor speculation on WB.

In the last 6 months on Carolina Beach , 22% of MLS listings actually sold. Kure Beach has seen 24% of it's listings sell, and Wrightsville Beach has sold 25% of it's listings in the last 6 months. That may sound bad to sellers, but consider that only a year ago those numbers were barely double digits.

Wilmington Property:

So far this spring has not been something to write home about. The inventory seems to be slipping, but the number of units sold is as well. We sold 136 units in March 08, compared to 294 in 07. The average days on market has risen just 9 days, and the average price dropped 30K from 07. Not the best numbers considering that it's the spring market. Seller's who aren't serious now, will probably be holding their homes for another year. This doesn't mean now is not the time to buy. Like the JP Morgan purchase of Bear Stearns, the deal is much more important than the timing. If you find the right home, there may never be a better time to buy.

Wilmington NC Population by Year Change Rate

2000 75,838 N/A

2001 90,084 18.78%

2002 90,620 0.60%

2003 91,419 0.88%

2004 93,371 2.14%

2005 95,476 2.25%

Vs. State Change Rate


My name is Ralph "The House" Hunter, with Victory Real Estate. I have been selling real estate in the Wilmington area for 5 years now. I have experienced many different markets, and enjoy watching things play out. I have lived in Wilmington my entire life, and really love being directly invloved in it's growth, and development. I plan to build my firm into a powerful local brand focused on real estate advice and service, rather than sales.

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