Homes Sold First Quarter

As the end of the first quarter comes nearly to an end, I thought it would be interesting to share the market statistics of homes sold in the Wilmington Metro area for year to date 2009. As you can tell by looking at these numbers, the most active price range remains in the $150,000 to $300,000 price point.

We are seeing a definite increase in activity and contracts written these days. With Spring upon us, we expect the trend to continue.

Wilmington NC Real Estate Economy

For more details on the Wilmington NC real estate economy or to search for homes , please feel free to email kay@cbbaker.com or call 800-497-7325 or check out www.cbbaker.com. Read the rest of this entry

Text messaging

Mobile Virtual tours are now being offered to view real estate in Wilmington, NC. In this age of technology, buyers want immediate information. Being the innovative Realtor that I try to be, I am always seeking the competitive edge. Home buyers in Wilmington, NC can now receive virtual tours even while they may be just riding by the home. Buyers can simply text the homes code to  44133  (each individual home will have one) that is displayed on the for sale sign and in print ads. Text messaging is the preferred communication these days, especially with 25-44 year olds..  Goomzee text messaging allows Realtors to capture qualified leads and then arrange for an appt, open house, price reduction or send information about a  new listing in the neighborhood. Home sellers just absolutely love this new technology to market their home. Sellers have been long tired of empty brochure boxes or Realtors not answering their phones. Now home buyers can get the detailed information they deserve simply by texting on their phone. And the bonus for home sellers and myself,  I receive the caller’s phone number and details immediately for followup. In addition, my creative assistant has set up a text message for buyers and sellers to search Wilmington NC real estate by price right from their phone!

Try it yourself! Text 14059 to 44133.  Don’t you just love technology??

Top 6 Cities Named for Housing Values Increase

When you hear all the gloom and doom on the news media, we get some very positive news for Wilmington, NC real estate. A government report released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency states that Wilmington NC ranks in the top six cities nationwide where house values have increased the most over the last five years. Wilmington has experienced a substantial 62.1 percent increase. Others named were Honolulu at 78.7%; Virginia Beach at 72.6%; Flagstaff at 66.5%; Bellingham, WA at 65.6% and Baltimore at 60.6%. Read the rest of this entry

Realtors are asking for a buydown on the rate to 4.5%

With a new President on January 20, 2009, just exactly what does this mean to the housing market. No one knows for sure exactly what this will mean, but, we are hearing pleas from Realtors nationwide. The National Association of Realtors and Realogy Corporation, a global provider for real estate and relocation, have both submitted a proposal to Congress for a federal buy down of the interest rates to 4.5%. “There are millions of credit-worthy people ready to jump back into the housing market, but they need to be motivated,” said Realogy President and CEO Richard A. Smith. “In our view, the incentive of substantially lower mortgage rates would directly stimulate the housing market — both in sales volume and price — and thus accelerate the overall U.S. economic recovery.” They are proposing that the buy down could be funded from the $700 Billion federal plan to put liquidity back into the markets. The buy down proposed would apply to the purchase of all homes under $1 Million Dollars. The NAR is also asking for a temporary $7500 tax credit for all buyers. There is also a request to make permanent the FHA limits to $729,750.

Realogy Corporation conducted a survey amongst their 2300 independently owned and operated real estate companies such as Century 21 and Coldwell Banker and the brokers unanimously stated that they predicted an increase in home sales if the interest rates were in the 4.5% range.

With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at Obama’s plan for the future.
Since the economy won’t wait until January 20th, plans for another economic stimulus package are already in the works. Obama has also mentioned a housing stimulus to include a 90 freeze on foreclosures. He also wants to implement the recently passed rescue plan and the Hope for Homeowners Act. This means the Treasury, HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and all of the banks and loan servicers who benefit from the rescue bill will continue to coordinate broad mortgage restructurings and loan modifications for struggling homeowners. No one knows for sure exactly how this will be implemented or what it even looks like yet.

Obama has also promised to repeal the 2005 bankruptcy bill. A controversial measure, this will allow judges to alter mortgage terms during a bankruptcy, providing more protection for struggling homeowners.

Obama is expected to create a 10% universal mortgage interest credit for those who don’t currently itemize. This means about $500 in savings for 10 million American homeowners.

During the campaign, Obama blamed the financial crisis on lax government regulations, so look for tougher regulations, new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud violators, more funding for enforcement programs, more detailed loan disclosure laws, new counseling programs and other consumer protections, including a new Home Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score (kind of like a new APR calculation) to help borrowers better understand and compare mortgage costs during the mortgage process.

So it does sound like some good options for the housing market are in the works. That is good news for the real estate market in whole.

Please feel free to email me at kay@cbbaker.com with any questions you may have. You can also search for Wilmington NC Real Estate right here or www.cbbaker.com.

Has the Housing Market Bottomed?

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 Film Industry May Be Affected by Bailout Legislation

Wilmington NC known as “Hollywood East” may benefit from the recent bailout legislation. The Bill offers tax breaks for producers who film in the United States. With the bill, film producers may deduct all production costs up to $15 Million Dollars. Read the rest of this entry

Get Money Flowing Again

We are seeing some of the worst economic times that most of us have seen in our lifetime. We must insist that Congress act now to get money flowing again in our financial system, which is nearly frozen. Read the rest of this entry