The Week in Review
....your Wilmington Connnection
August 30 2008
Hello All!
I just wanted to wish you all a very fun and safe Labor Day weekend! It has been a scorcher this week with the combination of humidity and heat.
US Buyers just can’t resist a bargain.
The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales of existing homes rose 3.1% in July
as buyers capitalized on deeply discounted properties in parts of the country hit hardest by the housing meltdown. While foreclosure-fueled sales weaken home prices, they also speed a housing recovery by quickly finding the market's bottom.
The industry group said sales, which were only supposed to climb 1.6%, rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.0 million units with the median price for a home down by 7.1% from a year ago at $212,000. The number of homes sold in the month was 13.2% lower than a year ago pushing the number of homes for sale in the U.S. up by 100,000 in July to 11.2 months of supply which is the highest level on record according to TradeTheNews.com
Sewer capacity issue raises red flag for some builders
Builders in New Hanover County are once again facing uncertainty because of sewer issues, although this time the problems affect fewer people and should be more easily fixed.
Three areas of the county are off-limits to new sewer extensions as the result of a new policy that has changed how the state gauges sewage capacity.
Previously, the state focused on ensuring sewage flow didn't exceed the limits of the plants that treated it, said Deborah Gore, an environmental engineer with the N.C. Division of Water Quality.
But now the focus includes the capacity of the pipes that ferry the sewage, a change inspired in part by Wilmington's repeated problems with the Northeast Interceptor, Gore said.
The 9-mile force main's history of leaks prompted a state crackdown last year that banned new building permits for much of New Hanover County pending completion of emergency repairs.
Now utilities have to tally the amount of sewage permitted to flow into their pipes, including any capacity granted to developers who have yet to build their projects.
Figuring in such "paper flow," the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has exceeded capacity at three of its pump stations, which push waste along.
The stations are Country Haven pump station near Porters Neck, and Barnards Creek and Motts Creek pump stations, which are near the Cape Fear River south of Monkey Junction.
Developers in areas flowing to those stations can no longer get permits to extend sewer lines. The impact, however, is far less than last year's building ban because developers can continue to get building permits to tap into existing lines.
Economy rebounds in 2nd quarter
Washington | The economy shifted to a higher gear in the spring, growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as foreign buyers snapped up U.S. exports and tax rebates spurred shoppers at home.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government’s initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists’ expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate.
The rebound comes after two dismal quarters. The economy actually shrank in the final three months of 2007 and limped into the first quarter at a feeble 0.9 percent pace. The 3.3 percent growth in the spring was the best performance since the third quarter of last year, when the economy was chugging along at a brisk 4.8 percent pace.
Still, the growth pickup is not likely to be seen as a lasting sign that the fragile economy is back on solid ground.
........until next week in The Week in Review
Tina
