First impression is everything in today’s real estate world. With the inventory available for buyers to pick and choose, sellers need to be diligent about first impression. Buyers may pass your house for a more updated one. Read the rest of this entry
Consider this. Let’s assume that home prices do fall another 15% and interest rates go up.
Current Scenario Down the Road Scenario
Sales price $250,000 Sales price $212,500
5% down $12,500 5% down $10,625
Loan Amt $237,500 Loan Amt $201,875
30 yr fixed @ 6% 30 yr fixed @ 8%
P & I = $1,423.93 P & I = $1,481.29
Total cost for 30 years Total cost for 30 years
$512,617 $533,264
If we are going to assume prices fall another 15%, we also have to assume interest rates will be higher. Nobody can predict interest rates and nobody can predict the bottom of this real estate market. What we do know is that rates are favorable and real estate is ON SALE. Waiting could cost you money!
The time is now to buy Wilmington NC real estate. There are many homes for sale in Wilmington that are priced below $100 a ft! Unheard of prices! We can send you a detailed list of those homes. There are also some foreclosures and short sales. Fortunately, we do not have the amount of foreclosures that have been experienced nationwide. We were somewhat protected from the mortgage meltdown. North Carolina mortgage laws are some of the toughest in the Nation.
For a detailed list of our Best Buy Home List in Wilmington, NC., please contact me at kaybaker@seacoastrealty.com or go to my website and search all homes in Wilmington, NC.
Many thanks to Alan Efting at Bradford Mortgage for these valuable stats. You may contact him at www.alanefting.com.
National existing home sales increased in September by the largest amount seen in several years. Are we actually seeing signs that the real estate market has bottomed out? Home sales increased but prices are down 9% from a year ago, nationwide. Some analysts are predicting home prices could fall another 10% as the inventory of foreclosures increases. 35 to 40% percent of recent sales are either foreclosures or short sales according to the National Associaton of Realtors. Read the rest of this entry
Wilmington NC is situated on the southeast coast of NC and is bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and the west by the Cape Fear River. The beauty and charm of Wilmington and the surrounding beaches equal or surpass any 
on the east coast. The many pristine beaches that we have to enjoy such as Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Topsail Beach, Oak Island and Ocean Isle Beach are sure to captivate your heart.
The area’s many miles of coastline, rivers and sounds offer a variety of watersports, boating activities, and quite a few harbors, marinas, and yacht clubs.
Being located within minutes of one of the most protected inlets on the east coast, Wilmington offers bountiful fishing opportunities within minutes. Masonboro Inlet is located between the Southern tip of Wrightsville Beach and Masonboro Island. Also, the many creeks and bays located off banks channel and the waterways are a fisherman’s dream. You will see them fishing for drum, trout, and flounder in the fall of the year.
Masonboro Island is an 8 mile long uninhabited island on the southern North Carolina coast between Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach and is part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve. Masonboro Island, only accessible by boat, is enjoyed by campers, surfers, anglers, and bird-watchers alike. The reserve consists of about 5000 acres, which about 4400 acres are tidal marsh and mud flats. The most northern end at Masonboro Inlet is the most popular area with its sandy beaches and protected waters. Any summer weekend you will see many boaters and campers prepared for a few days on the beach with tents, grills and water toys in tow.
Wilmington is blessed with a beautiful and extensive historic district with magnificent and stately oaks, azaleas and oleanders. 230 blocks of downtown are on the The National Register of Historic Districts. The city embraces a lot of history and is fortunate that so much has been preserved.
I cannot speak highly enough about the real estate offered in and around Wilmington NC, from the River to the Sea! Wilmington offers many affordable neighborhoods such as Whitney Pines to move up neighborhoods like Covil Estates with amenities, to luxury gated communities such as Landfall, or golf course neighborhoods like Porters Neck, and waterfront neighborhoods with marinas and boatslips such as Turtle Hall or Shinn Point . The choices are all right here in our great port city of Wilmington NC. Read the rest of this entry
The Gateway plan proposed for the riverfront in downtown Wilmington NC was approved on Tuesday by the Wilmington City Council. The council voted to rezone 10 acres on the Cape Fear River to mixed use. The Gateway plan consists of an 11 story building with 260 condominium units ranging in size from 1500 sq ft at $389,000 to 2900 sq ft at $1,000,000. Read the rest of this entry
Listing Inventory
Our current listing inventory has a 78 unit decrease from last month and we are about 238 units down from October 2007. We have 5,741 single family homes for sale in our MLS. The average list price of $424,201 is up by $57.00 from last month. Our average list price last October was $427,354. If our charts prove correct we will continue to see a small decrease in listing through December 2008.
Monthly Average Sold Price
Our monthly average sold price is down 13.5% from last month and down 14.0% from September 2007. September average sold price ($235,068) shows a decline of just 14.1% from year end 2007. When we look at a rolling 12 months our current average sales price remains behind year over year comparisons. Our current year over year (10/01/07 – 09/30/08) average sold price of $261,887 is 3.0% behind $269,905 of this time last year.
Monthly Sold Units
The number of sold homes in September is down 12.7% from last month. When we look at a rolling 12 months our number of sold unit’s year over year is 5,059 units compared to 6,942 last year this time, a decrease of 27.1%. Our monthly sold units continue to lag behind the last couple of years.
Average Sold Price Year to Date
Year over year our year to date numbers have dipped a little.
2003 year end average sale price $ 186,137
2004 year end average sale price $ 210,048
2005 year end average sale price $ 254,080
2006 year end average sale price $ 264,520
2007 year end average sale price $ 273,701
2008 year to date average sale price $ 256,871
Our 12 month (10/1/07 – 9/30/08) rolling average ($261,887) continues to show us that we are in line with last year.
It really is a great time to buy a home right now. Search for your new home.
My thanks to David Flory with Cunningham and Brokers for this valuable information.
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On Saturday, three Coldwell Banker Realtors held a marketing event at the gated community of Figure Eight Island, NC. Figure 8 Island, NC is only accessed by a bridge and Open House events are not allowed. For instance, you cannot even cross the bridge without approval from the homeowners, and an event has to be first approved the Homeowners Association. There are no signs allowed, so strategic marketing efforts are necessary. Direct mail to Figure Eight Island homeowners, email marketing to Realtors, interoffice memos, and internet marketing proved to be very successful as the turnout was great! Read the rest of this entry
The Art Unveiling Party for the North Carolina Azalea Festival was held Friday night at the Arab Shrine Club on College Road. The event was sponsored by Frame Works and Jim Quick and the Coastline Band was the entertainment for the evening.
The commemorative art for the 62nd Annual North Carolina Azalea Festival was created by world renowned artist, George Pocheptsov. George is Ukranian, born in 1992 and actually starting painting at age 17 months, when he drew an antique car. George, a self taught artist, starting painting 6 months before he could talk. George’s artwork is often compared to young Picasso and now sell for up to $100,000.
George presented the 2009 commemorative art and described his inspiration for the painting including an Azalea Festival back in 1948. This very special piece is a collection of many Festivals past.
The 62nd Annual Azalea Festival will be held in Wilmington, NC on April 2-6th. For more detailed information about the Wilmington Azalea Festival and other weekly events in Wilmington, check out my TGIF Scoop.
Thalian Hall in Wilmington NC celebrated its grand opening October 12, 1858! 85 performances were presented that first year. At the time, it was the largest Theater South of Richmond, Va. Thalian Hall was known by many names in its early days such as “The Wilmington Theater”, “The Opera House” and “The Academy of Music”. Thalian Hall today looks largely the same as it did in 1858, with its rambling ornate architecture. Read the rest of this entry
Sometimes it pays to be on the bottom of the list. North Carolina ranked just that (number 56) by bankrate.com for loan closing costs. 2008 closing costs average $2650 for a $200,000 loan in the state of North Carolina. New York ranked first as the most expensive state for loan closing costs at $4015. Read the rest of this entry
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