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September 11, 2001 will stay in our minds and hearts forever.  We have not forgotten.  Take time this weekend to reflect on the 10 year anniversary, either quietly by yourself or with others in your community.   Reach out to those that were directly affected by the events.  Keep in your thoughts the first responders who help keep us safe, and the service men and women who are continuing to fight to keep our freedom.  If you would like to know where events are in our area these are some of the memorial services in Wilmington NC on Saturday September 11, 2011 to recognize the 10th anniversary of 9/11/01.

9/11 “We Remember” Commemorative Service

 Sun, September 11th 2011 – Candlelight Vigil    7 pm – 8pm
Wilmington Convention Center

9/11 Memorial  Service

- Cape Fear Community College - \ Safety Training Center at the North Campus in Castle Hayne beginning at 8:30 a.m

http://cfcc.edu/blogs/news/

9/11 Rememberance Ceremony

UNCW Kenan Auditorium – 6: 00 pm – Mayor Bill Saffo and other speakers.  Music by UNCW Dept. of Music

Theater Performance: Remembrance Monologues, 7:30 p.m., Kenan Auditorium

9/11 10th Anniversary Memorial Sunday

9 a.m. near the POW Memorial at 30 Government Center Dr., Bolivia

9/11 Memorial Cruise

Wilmington Water Tours – Downtown Wilmington (910)338-3134

1:30pm – Live music featuring Lindsay Bennet and a complimentary toast to remember those we have lost.

4:00pm – Live music featuring Jamie Michelle and a memorial Wreath laying to Honor those we have lost.

Pray for peace.

A piece of American History arrived in Wilmington NC today.  Two Steel beams that collapsed in the September 11 attacks were picked up by Wilmington firefighters and escorted to Wilmington.  One of the beams will be placed at the new Empie Park fire station and the other will be placed at the safety training area at Cape Fear Community College.  The ceremony was attended by those who September 11 had touched personally and by active firefighters who were working at the site.  Memorial Gardens and reflecting ponds are going to be erected to surround the beams.  They will be kept in storage unit the gardens are completed, then moved to their final resting place.

There is talk of a minor league baseball stadium being built on the riverfront in downtown Wilmington NC.  There has not been a baseball team in Wilmington NC since the Port City Roosters, a Southern League minor team which was a Double A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners Major Club in 1995.  Some of the players that wore the Roosters Uniform you might recognize : Red Sox captain Jason Varitek, pitchers Derek Lowe and Ryan Franklin, infielder Desi Relaford and outfielders José Cruz, Jr. and Raul Ibanez.

Chuck Schoninger, the CEO of USA InvestCo owns property on the riverfront, 35 acres which he hopes to develop into a marina, a hotel,  condos, restaurants and to top it  off a Minor League Baseball Stadium.  Schoninger will travel to China to present his plan to Chinese investors with a Federal Program called Employment Based Program Number 5, or EB5, that was started by George Bush in 1990 to entice foreign investment.  With the opening of the Wilmington NC Convention Center, this will make an addition to the growing and thriving downtown area. For a complete story from the Greater Wilmington Business Journal, read more here….

To search all Wilmington NC downtown properties, please visit www.cbbaker.com

January 2011 Wilmington NC MLS Report

Based on the winter weather we have had it is obvious that our real estate market still has the Winter Blues. Our average sales price has dropped 17% from December 2010; that is quite a fall. Most of the transactions that closed in January we put under contract in December. When you break down the sales that took place in January 2011 there is only 1 transaction that closed above $700,000. While in December 2010 there were 14 sold transactions over $700,000 and January 2010 there were 5 sold transactions over $700,000. This greatly affects our monthly average sales price, our current monthly average sold price is $194,425 for the month of January. This is the first time that the monthly average sold price has dipped under $200,000 in a looooong time.

January’s average sales price has managed to show a decrease of 17% from December. Sold units are down 119 units over last month (about 31%) and even with last January. In the month of January we saw a increase of 71 homes in our listing inventory, we have 4,718 homes on the market as of February 1^st. This continues to put us in a strong buyer’s market with a listing inventory of just over a 17.8 month supply. With the low sales in January this affects our month supply with an increase of 5 months from last month with 12.6. Our average list price has started the year under $350,000 range; we are currently at $343,053. In January sellers paid concessions in about 30.6% of all the month’s transactions.  Our average days on the market are at 132 days. The list to sold ratio has improved some to 94.4% this number needs to continue to get better. The number of homes that sold in 15 days or less continues to remain very low, 11.3% of January sold homes. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.05% with an average 0.7 points for the week ending February 10, 2011. We have already hit the historic lows in mortgage rates and they are now on the rebound. Call me so I can show you or your clients how they can get the benefit of these rates. Have a great week and let me know what I can do to help you and your clients.

Despite all the media comments about our markets we are still lending money for residential mortgages. If a client has income and credit and some sort of down payment; they can get a mortgage. It goes to the basic three C’s – Capacity, Collateral and Character.

Listing Inventory

In January we saw a increase in listing inventory of 71 units. We are about 496 units under February 1, 2010 and 687 units under February 1, 2009. We have 4,718 single family homes for sale in our MLS. The average list price of $343,053 is down by $5,950 from last month. Please note the consistent winter dip in listings – see chart below.

Monthly Average Sold Price – this is not a pretty section

Our monthly average sold price is down by 17% from last month and down 9.7% from January 2010. Our average sold price is down by $39,939 from last month. January average sold price ($194,425) shows a decrease of 15.9% from year end 2010.

Monthly Sold Units

We are 2 units shy of matching January 2010 sold homes of 267, while this January we have sold 265 homes. I am sure as January gets closed out we will see the numbers increase over last year’s production. The number of sold homes is up 68 homes from January 2010.

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 $ 264,498

2007 year end average sale price $ 273,408

2008 year end average sale price $256,498

2009 year end average sale price $234,379

2010 year to date average sale price $231,141

While our 2010 year end numbers are lower than year end 2009 they do show promising signs that our sales are on the upswing. Looks like we have a setback with January’s average sold price – $194,425

Rolling 12 months

Our rolling 12 months gives us a better look at our production. It helps to smooth out a month that jumps up and down. When we look at February 1^st, 2010 to January 31^st, 2011 we have 4,526 sold units and when we compare the year prior February 1^st, 2009 to January 31^st, 2010 we have a 87 unit gain (4,439 sold units). When we look at the same rolling 12 months for average sold price we see that we are only down by 2.0%. So the dates of 2/1/2010 to 1/31/2011 we have an average sold price of $229,930 while from 2/1/2009 to 1/31/2010 we had an average sold price $233,436.

Median Sold Price

Our Median sold price decreased this month by 12.5% from last month. Our national numbers lag by one month. Our median sales price continues its jagged path – up then down then up and now down. I am hoping that our January dip in median sold price is a onetime event. I am hoping we can see the national median sales price reverse its downward trend as well as WRAR’s.

Pending

Pending Sales – A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not yet closed. Sales are typically finalized within one to two months from signing. With the new sales contract I am also counting Active Due Diligence and pending contracts. I look at the total pending units on a regular basis and this is how they chart out. Our pending index is dropping to our winter lows. In December we bottomed out about 575 units, we have since rebounded and have over 663 units that are pending – this is a 15% increase since the end of 2010.  With the new contract in place this is a good start to 2011.

Market Absorption rate – The number of homes sold in January, 265 divided by the current listing inventory, 4,718 gives us a 17.8 month supply of single family homes. This increased by 5 months from last month. We need to get this inventory back under 12 months supply. With a large inventory and the low sales in January this affects our market absorption. With rates where they are and plenty of inventory; we can get this number down.

List to Sold price ratio – the average list price of the sold properties is $206,188 and the average sold price is $194,425 for January which gives us a 94.4% list to sold price ratio – a good increase from last month. We have now managed to stay under 95% for over a year and several months. I want to quit counting the number of months and get this trend reversed.

Seller Concessions – We had 30.6% of sold properties report a sales concession for January, a increase of 4.2%. We want this number to go lower.

Days on Market – The average days on market for the sold properties is now at 132 for January. That is about 4.5 months to keep a property on the market. Only 11.3% of the properties were placed under contract in less than 15 days for the month of January.

Carolina & Kure Beach

There are currently 387 single family homes for sale and this represents little change from January 1, 2011 and 8.2% of our total WRAR inventory. The average list price is $390,006 and decrease of about $12,624 from January. In January there were 21 homes sold, divide that by the homes available and you have a 18.4 monthly supply of homes in Carolina and Kure Beach. The average sold price for the month of January was $230,953 and is down $37,893 from last month. When we look at a rolling 12 months for Carolina & Kure Beach we are up by 61 units and our sold prices are down 7.1% from the previous rolling 12 months.

This data was pulled on February 12, 2011, based on information from the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS Incorporated, for the period Jan. 1, 2005 through January 31, 2011.

The Market

Primary Mortgage Market Survey Press Release

30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Rates Rise to 5.05 Percent Highest Level since April 2010

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®  which shows long- and short-term rates rising this week.

News Facts

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.05 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending February 10, 2011, up from last week when it averaged 4.81 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.97 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged 4.29 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.08 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.34 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.

Quotes

Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Long-term bond yields jumped on positive economic data reports, which placed upward pressure on mortgage rates this week.

“For all of 2010, nonfarm productivity rose 3.6 percent, the most since 2002, while January’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell from 9.4 percent to 9.0 percent. Moreover, the service industry expanded in January at the fastest pace since August 2005.

“As a result, interest rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to the highest level since the last week in April 2010.”

Freddie Mac

Source:  Wilmington MLS and David Flory Cunningham Mortgage

view Wilmington NC real estate on www.cbbaker.com

Photo from DariusRucker.com

The party is getting started…. The 64th annual Azalea Festival will be held April 6- 10, 2011 in Wilmington NC.  Darius Rucker has been announced as the the headliner for the concert on April 6 at Trask Coliseum to open up the festivities.  Rucker was previously with Hootie and the Blowfish, before he set out on his own.  Deep voiced country music is what you will enjoy at the concert.  The other celebrities are Wilmington’s own  Tampa Bay Buccaneers place kicker and John T. Hoggard High School graduate Connor Barth; Miss North Carolina 2010 Adrienne Leigh Core; Emmy Award-winning actress and soap opera star Leann Hunley, who played the cougar-ish Tamara Jacobs on filmed-in-Wilmington TV series “Dawson’s Creek”; USS Gravely Commander Douglas Kunzman, making his second festival appearance; and Chris Lambton, who appeared on the ABC reality show “The Bachelorette.” The Avett Brothers are headlining a concert on April 8, and that show is sold out.

To listen to a hit “Come Back” song from Darius, click here.

The Azalea Festival is one of the biggest festivals in Wilmington NC and has for 64 years drawn many celebrities including headmaster Ronald Reagan.  Please join us in a great tradition.  Tickets for the concert are avaliable starting Saturday Feb. 12 at http://www.ncazaleafestival.org

While you are in town text 14059 to 44133 to search Wilmington NC real estate, or visit www.cbbaker.com.

The National Association of realtors has posted that the existing home sales rose again in September.  This affirms that a sales recovery has begun. 

The NAR states that the “existing-home sales1, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 10.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million in September from a downwardly revised 4.12 million in August, but remain 19.1 percent below the 5.60 million-unit pace in September 2009 when first-time buyers were ramping up in advance of the initial deadline for the tax credit last November.”

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market is in the early stages of recovery. “A housing recovery is taking place but will be choppy at times depending on the duration and impact of a foreclosure moratorium. But the overall direction should be a gradual rising trend in home sales with buyers responding to historically low mortgage interest rates and very favorable affordability conditions,” he said.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low 4.35 percent in September from 4.43 percent in August; the rate was 5.06 percent in September 2009.

The national median existing-home price2 for all housing types was $171,700 in September, which is 2.4 percent below a year ago. Distressed homes3 accounted for 35 percent of sales in September compared with 34 percent in August; they were 29 percent in September 2009.  Ten years ago, the mortgage rates were twice what they are today and the home prices were at least 20% more, making this a great time to purchase Wilmington NC real estate.  Please visit www.cbbaker.com to search all Wilmington NC area homes, land and boatslips.

The Wilmington- Cape Fear Homebuilders announced yesterday that the “housing affordability” in the Wilmington NC area remained near the highest level nationwide for the 6 consectutive month.  The Wilmington NC real estate prices have been lowered and the interest rates are favorable.   

This quote is from WWAY 3 from the president of Homebuilders “The possibility of homeownership is more obtainable for buyers in our market now than it has been for years,” said WCFHBA President John Lancaster of Venture Homes of the Carolinas. “More buyers are beginning to enter the market again thanks to renewed confidence as housing prices stabilize while the fed maintains all time low interest rates.”

Syracuse NY held the top spot on most affordable homes, with some smaller housing markets following close by Mansfield, Ohio; Bay City, Mich.; Monroe, Mich.; and Lansing-East Lansing, Mich.  Lancaster says “Our market is greatly influenced by what happens up north, so the numbers out of places like New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio are encouraging,”. 

That is encouraging news when the news lately has not been so positive.

Please take a minute to tour our website and search the Wilmington NC real estate area to find the house, neighborhood and price that you are looking for.  We have an inhouse Lender – Alpha Mortgage and an inhouse Insurance Agency – Real Mark Insurance and would be happy to give you contact information so that you have a “One Stop” Shop to buy real estate.   We make it easy for you.  Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty and Kay Baker and Associates.  Search all Wilmington NC real estate on www.cbbaker.com

Coldwell Banker real estate continues to receive awards for their innovative marketing especially in the Wilmington NC real estate market.  The Latest award was for “On Location” YouTube Channel, for the Real estate Category.  Below is the letter from Corporate headquarters for Coldwell Banker Realty.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast realty and Kay Baker and Associates continue to strive for new ideas and creative outlets for marketing of Wilmington NC real estate.  Visit http://www.cbbaker.com/

COLDWELL BANKER REAL ESTATE WINS COMMUNICATOR CREATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD FROM INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF VISUAL ARTS

Brand’s ‘On Location’ YouTube Channel Honored in Real Estate Website Category

PARSIPPANY, N.J., (July 7, 2010) – The International Academy of the Visual Arts has named Coldwell Banker On Location, the brand’s YouTube channel, a recipient of this year’s Communicator Awards for Creative Excellence in the real estate website category. The category honors the best site for the sale or rental of residential or commercial property.

“We were the first national real estate brand to add streaming video to our website. Today, our agents across the globe have posted more than 15,000 videos to our On Location channel,” said Mike Fischer, chief marketing officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “The most exciting part of On Location is that we have only just begun – there’s a lot more to come.”

On Location has been rated among the top 10 most-viewed brand channels on YouTube. In April, just 11 months after launching On Location, Coldwell Banker announced it had received over 1 million views. The site was launched in May 2009 and was produced in collaboration with FD Kinesis.

“Home buyers would much rather see a home than only read about it,” Fischer said. “Our On Location videos empower them to get a feel for a home, a community or a real estate professional that they could not get from photos or a text description alone. Equally important are the home sellers who are now expecting video to be a part of marketing their property.”

With thousands of entries received from across the United States and around the world, the Communicator Awards is one of the largest and most competitive awards program honoring the creative excellence for communications professionals. The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, advertising and marketing firms.

About Coldwell Banker®

Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker® organization has been a premier provider of full-service residential and commercial real estate. Coldwell Banker is the oldest national real estate brand in the United States and today has a network of more than 98,000 agents working in more than 3,600 offices in 50 countries and territories. The Coldwell Banker brand is known for creating innovative consumer services as recently seen by being the first national real estate brand to augment its web site www.coldwellbanker.com for smart phones, the first to create a iPhone application and the first to fully harness the power of video in real estate listings, news and information through its Coldwell Banker On LocationSM YouTube channel. The Coldwell Banker system is a leader in specialty markets such as resort, new homes and luxury properties through its Coldwell Banker Previews International® marketing program.

© 2010 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated Except Offices Owned And Operated By NRT Incorporated.

Rendering by Creative Illustration Media, INC. LS&P Architects

Wilmington NC is going to get it’s own state of the art  Convention Center.  After waiting for approvals and site plans, an opening date has been set for the Historic Downtown Wilmington Convention Center on the Cape Fear River. 

The grand opening is set for Thursday January 13, 2011 at 9:30 am.  The public is invited and there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony with the mayor and other community leaders.  Following the ceremony, there will be a BizTech Expo with technology and business vendors.  On January 15 a black tie event will be held by the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, with proceeds benefiting the Cape Fear Future initiative.  

A couple of big companies have signed contracts to hold their conventions here for the next couple of years.  This will bring added revenue to Wilmington NC and expose our area and all it’s natural treasures and great Wilmington NC real estate opportunities.  

Please explore our website for the most up to date listings of all Wilmington NC real estate and waterfront properties.  www.cbbaker.com or call us and we will personally select properties that will fit your real estate needs or portfolio.

Did you miss the $8,000 Stimulus deadline to purchase a new home?  If you did Coldwell Banker Corporate has announced a Buyer Bonus plan that could help you get a credit on a new home.  

Purchase a participating home between May 1, 2010 and July 31, 2010 and the seller will refund 3% of the accepted offer price up to $8,000 to you as a credit at closing.  Look for the “Buyer Bonus Program” homes online or call us and we can help you with your search for a new home.  You don’t have to be a first time home buyer to enjoy the credit.  Read more here.

Search online at www.cbbaker.com or TEXT 14059 to 44133 to search on your mobile phone.