Lee & Pamela St. Peter Your Raleigh NC Realtors ~ GRI, CRS, ABR

With news about the economy hitting us from all sides I wanted to share with you some facts about the Triangle aside from just a Raleigh Real Estate Market Report.

First and foremost North Carolina has consistently been in the forefront for affordable housing. According to NAR homes were more affordable in December 2008 than in any other era since 1970.

In 2008 our state welcomed the most newcomers moving in versus those moving out. According to Relcation.com. a whopping 55% more folks are moving into NC than are moving out.

Last month Governor Perdue signed a bill that could save NC homebuyers more than $30 million dollars. NC is projected to receive $6.1 billion dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (final amount is not known yet). And of course we don't know what form of competitive grants we'll be awarded.

On Wednesday of last week NC received $208 million from the weatherization and energy efficiency grant. I didn't know there was such a thing but North Carolinians are slated to receive $131,954,536 for weatherization and $75,989,000 for the state energy program. This grant is to assist home owners (a family of four making under $44K year) weatherize their home by doing things like adding insulation where needed or upgrading their HVAC systems.

Nationally in January foreclosures filings were 18% higher compared to January 2008. However here in North Carolina January saw a 29.3% decrease for the same period ranking it 33^rd nationally.

The White House estimates that the stimulus plan will create or save 105,000 jobs in North Carolina with over 9,000 being right here in the Triangle area.

So more jobs, fewer foreclosures affecting home prices, grants to assist home owners with maintenance, and an increase in relocation to this area all point to a very rosy forecast for the Triangle!

About the author: Pamela is with The St. Peter HomeSelling Team at Prudential YSU Realty in the Triangle. A team of passionate North Carolina Brokers dedicated to connecting their clients to success in home buying and selling in the Triangle. She can be reached via email at Pamela@RaleighHomesOnline.com or by calling (919) 645-2522.

For your real estate needs The St. Peter HomeSelling Team serves the following areas; Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina, Garner, Wake Forest

It's time to gather the statistics to compare January 2008 to January 2009. Unfortunately there's no sugar coating the stats this time - our market took a punch. Below you'll see where our strength and weaknesses are in the Triangle (Wake County).

Notice what happened to new construction. It tanked 55%! No wonder the builders have backed off new construction around here. But in comparison take a look at the average price of a resale home - it's up 3%. Our average sale price for the entire area did drop by 2 ½ %.

So just which subdivision's did the best during the month of January 2009? Some of these are our favorites too...

Graphic statistics courtesy of Stacey Anfindson - T.A.R.R Report

I also wanted to check on how the showings compared for the two months as well. As you'll see they were way down too - over 12%. There were 14,504 total listings in January 2009 and 12,688 in January 2008...

So where have all the buyers gone? My gut tells me they are waiting to see what the market will do next. Except of course 1^st time home buyers. We're seeing more of them with the $8,000 tax credit on the table until later this year.

I'll be anxious to get my hands on the stats for February. But for now with mortgage money available and very good, things will start to unclog around here. This weekend FHA loans are around 5% and with a 3 ½ % down payment requirement.

There's also USDA loans available (Read Eleanor Thorne's info) and a lot of the area in Wake county surprisingly qualifies. Then top it all of with Conventional 30 year fixed rates at an all time low hovering around 4.62% and inventory flush it is a great time to buy that dream home!

In the meantime should you have any questions about buying or selling a home in the Raleigh Area call us - we're your connection to Raleigh Real Estate!

About the author: Pamela is with The St. Peter HomeSelling Team at Prudential YSU Realty in the Triangle. A team of passionate North Carolina Brokers dedicated to connecting their clients to success in home buying and selling in the Triangle. She can be reached via email at Pamela@RaleighHomesOnline.com or by calling (919) 645-2522.

For your real estate needs The St. Peter HomeSelling Team serves the following areas; Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina, Garner, Wake Forest

There are so many new ways prospective buyers and sellers can harvest information today about real estate online. They can find home prices, what's on the market, what's sold etc. But unfortunately not all that information is fresh and up to date. So what's a home buyer or seller to do? Get the facts from a solid Realtor in their local area!

We have created 2 ways for our clients (and we hope future customers) to keep an eye out on what's important to them. First of all most everyone has a full MLS search on their website. Well anyone who is serious about attracting online buyers and sellers that is. The IDX rules have helped see to that. But I'd like to share what has really helped us look good in our clients eyes - automatically!

We are fortunate to have a great MLS - powered by MarketLinx. Now I don't know anything about other MLS's or how they are run (Marketlinx claims to be the foremost provider of real estate info to ½ of all the real estate professionals in the US). However I for one am very pleased with what the Triangle MLS provides for us.

One of the benefits our online buyers and sellers receive is a personal website called a Client Gateway. We advertise everywhere and anywhere for homesearchers to sign up - it's FREE. Here's what the form on our website looks like;

All someone has to do to get up to the minute Real Estate information on homes that match their real estate needs in the Triangle (Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay, Wake Forest - they're all there) is to fill out the form. Once we receive their request with the parameters they want we set up their personal Gateway right in our MLS. They will be emailed a link to their private, personal webpage. Once there they can save favorites, keep notes, reject homes they don't like, even share the link with family and friends - it's their own personal web page!

Pretty easy - and pretty cool..

It's reassuring knowing that the information we send out to our clients is fresh, up to date, and exactly what they want.

Happy House Hunting!

With the massive stimulus bill signed into law by President Obama it's time for all of us to talk with 1^st time home buyers. Couple that tax benefit with the news that the Wall Street Journal put out yesterday saying "the relative, after-tax cost of owning a home dropped to 125% of the cost of renting a home" why would anyone choose to rent IF they can buy? Need more reason's to start talking; take into consideration that interest rates are at an all time low. I shake my head almost in disbelieve at a closing table where my clients mortgage rate is below 5%!

I don't have a crystal ball but with all these factors coming together - we're certain to pull buyers into the spring market who otherwise would have stayed on the sidelines. But we have to get the word out.

And here's more good reasons; here in the Triangle our inventory of homes is plentiful - right now today in Raleigh there are 4,302 active listings, in Cary 1,068, and in Apex 472. There is certainly one that fits for everyone.

It's up to all of us to educate our clients, their children, and our own children about the benefits of owning a home right now.

I for one am on a crusade. Why? Because I don't care how many homes I've sold over the past decade none have brought a brighter smile to my face or tugged at my heart more than when helping 1^st time home buyers close on their home. There is so much excitement and pride in them. And they are always so grateful...

It's time to get the word out. The opportunities are pretty tempting but they may not be around for long. So get on that soap box and don't let anyone miss a chance to fulfill their dream of home ownership. It's a great time to buy a home! Could it be that 1st times home buyers will be the catalyst in saving the US economy.. interesting thought.

OK - time to regroup and look at just what the Raleigh Real Estate Market in Wake County is doing... Let's take a good look at the Good, the Bad, and The Ugly;

The Good

• 3rd quarter closings were the 6th highest in history

• Current supply of 8 months is lower than national current supply of 11 months

• Average house price appreciation in the Triangle Multiple Listing Service has been 4%. National rate is a negative -4.8%

• Average re-sale sales price +4%, average overall sales price +8%, average list price +2%

• Houses priced correctly sell in an average of 55 days

The Bad

• Overall inventory grew 7%, making 2 consecutive months of <10% growth

• Withdrawn listings increased 2% compared to 9/07

The Ugly

• 29 consecutive months of inventory growth, 20 consecutive months of lower pending sales

• 63% of all price points have an oversupply of housing product

• 9/08 expired listings were 227% higher than 9/07 expired listings

• 8/08 employed workforce was lower than the 8/07 workforce for the first time since ‘01 v. ‘00

The chart below (courtesy of Stacey Anfindson - T.A.R.R Report) highlights the difference between December 2007 and December of 2008..

There you have it - the facts. Is our market down? Yes the number of detached sales was down 11.19%. But take a look at the average detached sales price - it was up 4.40%

We will be watching the NC Employment Security Commission closely as they reveal Wake Counties workforce numbers for January. We'll also be watching pending sales and showing reports for this month as well. Those lower figures are troubling.

There's no denying that the market is adjusting itself. That is one part of the news out there that is factual. But I can't help but wonder what would happen if everyone stopped listening to the gloom and doom reported nightly and just went about their daily business? Remember people buy and sell homes based on their personal needs not what the market is doing.

I am sure that with interest rates as low as they are and inventory as ripe as it is we will see an upswing as we head into the spring market. Especially from the wise and well counseled 1st time home buyers. Don't forget that the government has up to $7,500 tax credit waiting for those that qualify.

Happy House Hunting,

About the author: Pamela is a Raleigh Realtor with The St. Peter HomeSelling Team at Prudential YSU Realty in the Triangle.
A team of passionate North Carolina Brokers dedicated to connecting their clients to success in home buying and home selling in the Triangle. Pamela can be reached via email at Pamela@RaleighHomesOnline.com or by calling (919) 645-2522.

For your real estate needs The St. Peter HomeSelling Team serves the following areas; Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina, Garner, Wake Forest