Posted by Kim Adamof on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 @ 08:51 AM
Exploring how far your real estate dollar will stretch in various American housing markets
by Luke Mullins
In the more than three years since the housing bubble popped, American real estate prices have declined at a historic clip. The national median price of an existing home dropped to $177,700 in August. That's 21 percent below the level in August 2006, when the median home price was $225,000. But just as the housing crash has hit various parts of the country with unequal force, $177,700 will buy you a much different house in one real estate market than it will in the next. To get a sense of how far your real estate dollar will stretch in different parts of the country today, here is a look at homes listed in the $177,700 range in 10 distinct U.S. cities. The listings were provided by real estate firm Trulia.com, a U.S. News partner.
#4 Raleigh North Carolina
Read the entire article ...
Posted by Kim Adamof on Wed, Jun 17, 2009 @ 06:39 PM
According to the
Triangle Business Journal of
Raleigh North Carolina. A report by the Brookings Institution that gauges the impact of the recession on metropolitan America has listed the Raleigh-Cary metro area as the strongest in North Carolina, and among the top 40 in the nation.
Brookings' MetroMonitor ranks the nation's 100 largest metro areas based on their economic performance as judged by six key indicators - employment, unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housing prices and foreclosure rates.
The listing is broken down into five groups of 20. The groups are listed as strongest, second-strongest, middle, second-weakest and weakest. The report covers the entire first quarter of 2009.
The Greensboro metro was listed in the report as one of the country's second-weakest metros, while Charlotte was among the 20 middle metros.
Here's how the Raleigh-Cary metro are fared in key data: The percentage change in employment from peak employment to first quarter 2009 was negative 2.9 percent; the percentage change in the unemployment rate from the first quarter 2008 to the same quarter in 2009 was 4.6 percent; the percentage change in gross metropolitan product from peak GMP to first quarter 2009 was negative 1.1 percent; and the real percent change in housing prices from first quarter 2008 to first quarter 2009 was 2 percent.
Four of the top five strongest performing metros, according to the report, are in Texas. They are San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas. Oklahoma City was the other representative on the top five list. On the other hand, four of the five weakest are in Florida. They are Bradenton, Tampa, Lakeland and Jacksonville. MetroMonitor determined that Detroit was the weakest-performing metro in the country.
The MetroMonitor, which will be released on a quarterly basis, bills itself as an interactive barometer of the health of America's metropolitan economies and looks at national economic statistics to portray the diverse metropolitan trajectories of recession and recovery across the country.
Posted by Kim Adamof on Thu, May 21, 2009 @ 12:00 PM
What kind of return can you expect on a real estate investment today? Delores Conway, real estate economist, says while people shouldn't expect to double their investment, they can expect to see gains. Stacey Delo reports.
First time home buyers and real estate investors are the largest buyers in our Raleigh Real Estate market.
Posted by Kim Adamof on Thu, May 21, 2009 @ 10:38 AM
With all the negative real estate news over the last couple of years, it is good to hear any positive tidbits we can get our hands on. And that's just what happened this morning on NBC's Today Show where real estate legend Barbara Corcoran presented her list of cities on the brink of a recovery.
Leading the list is Denver which Corcoran said "is clearly on a rebound" compared to any other city in the nation. "It's really the perfect real estate success story," she said. "It had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation for years running, and now they've cut that foreclosure rate in half and they've turned the corner."
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The other cities on Corcoran's list of cities poised for a real-estate rebound include:
- 2. Raleigh, NC
- 3. Austin, TX
- 4. Seattle, WA
- 5. San Francisco, CA
Key Factors driving the Raleigh Real Estate Market.
Job growth potential. We have stable major employers such as Wake County Public School System, North Carolina State University, WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Rex Healthcare, Progress Energy, Misys Healthcare Systems, Longistics, and Waste Industries.
Raleigh has a growing population. In 2000 there were 1.3 million residents in the Triangle. In 2008 that number grews to almost 1.7 million. Its estimated that we will be at almost 1.8 million by 2010.
You can't beat Raleigh's Good Weather. Though it is true that it can get quite warm in the summer, Raleigh offers a fantastic overall climate with four distinct seasons.
First-time Home Buyers in Raleigh Real Estate Market. Currently there are 452 houses for sale in Wake County under $150,000 3 bedroom/ 2 bath. With good inventory and the $8000 Tax Credit, now is a great time to buy your first home.
Raleigh Offers A Vital Downtown. Raleigh offers residents and visitors easy access to abundant venues, activities and attractions including top-notch museums, theater, and music.
A well educated population. 54% of the Raleigh population has a college degree. With top colleges and universities located around the Triangle, Raleigh is a wealth of educated resource.
Foreclosures earlier than other cities. A quick look at the Raleigh, NC Foreclosures, Default, Auction and Bank Owned Properties page shows there are currently 1,062 properties somewhere in the foreclosure process.
If you're interested in seeing what Raleigh has to offer in regards to real estate, click Raleigh North Carolina Homes For Sale and Raleigh MLS Listings.
Posted by Kim Adamof on Thu, May 21, 2009 @ 09:47 AM
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2009 (Reuters) - Raleigh Realtors look at the U.S. housing starts and permits fell to record lows in April, weighed down by a slump in multifamily units, according to data on Tuesday that still hinted the U.S. recession may be drawing to a close.
The Commerce Department said housing starts fell 12.8 percent to an annual rate of 458,000 units last month, the lowest since records began in January 1959.
The drop reflected a 46.1 percent plunge in breaking ground for multifamily units and indicated homebuilding remains a drag on the economy. However, starts for single-family homes, rose 2.8 percent, a second straight gain that showed the worst-hit part of the market was stabilizing.
"There is some stability. When you look at the housing starts numbers, they are going to be vulnerable to kind of two steps forward, one step back," said Nick Kalivas, vice president of financial research at MF Global in Chicago. "Housing starts are at a level where they are bottoming out."
Analysts said the decline in starts should help the housing market work through a huge stock of unsold homes and lay the foundation for a recovery from a three-year slump, which was the main trigger of the economic downturn.
Compared to the same period last year, housing starts were down 54.2 percent.
"This is essentially a good thing. It means supply will eventually come back in line with demand," said Joseph Brusuelas, an economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Shares of U.S. homebuilders fluctuated in choppy trade. The Dow Jones home construction index ended slightly lower following strong gains on Monday after data showed homebuilder sentiment had improved.
In related news, shares of Home Depot Inc, the world's largest home improvement chain, fell 5 percent after the company reported an almost 10 percent drop in quarterly sales.
GLIMMERS OF HOPE
New building permits, which give a sense of future construction activity, fell 3.3 percent to 494,000 units in April, the lowest since records were started in January 1960.
The decline in permits reflected a 19.9 percent decrease in new building plans for multifamily units. Building permits for single family homes rose 3.6 percent.
Compared to April of last year, permits were down 50.2 percent.
While housing activity continues to fall, the report still offered glimmers of hope for an economy in its 17th month of recession, according to analysts.
A National Association of Home Builders survey on Monday showed U.S. home builder sentiment surged to an eight-month high this month, with industry leaders hopeful the slump was nearing a bottom and market stability was around the corner.
"Multifamily starts have hit or will soon hit bottom. Single-family starts may continue to test the bottom. In the second half of this year, however, they will be on a sustained but slow path to recovery," said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
A report on shopping activity at U.S. retail chains from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs on Tuesday showed sales slid 1.2 percent last week, the biggest drop since late January, after two weeks of gains.
Both the ICSC-Goldman Sachs report and a separate index from Johnson Redbook showed sales off 0.3 percent from a year ago, a decline that ICSC noted was above recent lows.
High unemployment and strained incomes are cooling consumer demand.
Posted by Kim Adamof on Wed, Apr 15, 2009 @ 07:10 PM
Clayton NC Real Estate looks at the National Association of Realtor's current economic outlook to find out the following information:
NAHB Housing Market Index
An indicator of sales and expectations for future home building, the Housing Market Index saw a 5 point increase in April to 14. This was the biggest gain since last October. Family purchases showed improvement, indicating the boost to the housing market from low rates, low prices, and the $8,000 first-time buyer credit.
Finally, a large jump in the Housing Market index indicates a more positive outlook among home builders who believe that the housing depression is at or near the bottom and housing activity is picking up.
Even though we aren't out of trouble just yet, the economists suggest we're at the bottom.
Posted by Kim Adamof on Tue, Feb 24, 2009 @ 01:31 PM
According to the Hanley Wood Market Intelligence Report, the Raleigh area ranked #6 for 2009.
6. Raleigh, N.C. 2008 total building permits: 11,386
Another state capital with multiple universities, Raleigh was still adding jobs at a 1.9 percent annual rate though the third quarter of last year. With a population of more than 1 million, it also has one of the highest rates of population growth of any top metro market in the country over the last five years: nearly 5 percent annually. Though the price of a median home here, $221,900, is above the national average, it is well below other cities in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The metro area has added roughly 68,000 jobs since 2005, and employment held steady last year. With a glut of national builders in the market, locals such as Dixon Kirby have experimented with different looks and styles to keep sales alive.
AT A GLANCE
2009 Healthiest Housing Markets
1. Houston
2. Austin, Texas
3. Fort Worth, Texas
4. San Antonio
5. Dallas
6. Raleigh, N.C.
7. Seattle
8. Indianapolis
9. Fayetteville
10. Washington, D.C.
11. Nashville, Tenn.
12. Denver
13. Charlotte, N.C.
14. Wilmington, N.C.
15. Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Source: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence
To read about the top 15 area visit BuilderOnline.com
Posted by Kim Adamof on Fri, Feb 06, 2009 @ 04:59 PM
Some good news for our area from the Triangle Business Journal. Here is part of the article...
Durham and Raleigh ranked in the top 15 in 2008 among major metropolitan areas in terms of keeping jobs, according to a new analysis.
The analysis was performed by American City Business Journals, parent of Triangle Business Journal. It says that the nation's major labor markets lost nearly 1.2 million jobs last year.
The study focused on the 88 U.S. markets that have at least 250,000 nonfarm jobs. They collectively had 90.42 million jobs in December 2008, compared to 91.60 million at the end of 2007. That equaled a decline of 1.18 million.
According to the report, Durham ranked 11th best among the metros, creating 1,700 jobs in 2008. Raleigh tied with Seattle for 15th by creating 200 jobs.
Read the entire article at Triangle Business Journal
Posted by Kim Adamof on Mon, Jan 26, 2009 @ 01:59 PM
Interests went down in December but the showings didn't increase. Unfortunately the job market counter the low interest rates.
There are currently 12,443 active listings within the four main counties which is a decrease of 1% compared to this same time last year. That alone doesn't seem that striking but when you break it down by re-sales and new construction, then you see that there are 21% less new construction homes and 63% more resales.
December had a 20% decrease in showings compared to December 2007. This was the lowest amount of showings since 12/03 and the second lowest on record since our showing system was implemented.
There are 12,443 active listings and only 979 homes that went either pending or sold. That's less than 10% and a 31% decrease compared to December 2007. Pending sales in December were the lowest amount within this decade.
Our current supply of housing within the four main counties is 7 months.
I also notice that sellers are holding out to get their price. There aren't huge drops in price that you might expect from slow sales. Deals are out there but you need to look hard for them.
Posted by Kim Adamof on Thu, Jan 22, 2009 @ 12:53 PM
A collapsing economy combined with further deterioration of the housing market continues to suppress remodeling activity according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) points to homeowner improvement spending declining at an annual rate of 12.1 percent by the third quarter of 2009.
"Uncertainty in the housing market continues to stifle spending on homeowner improvements," notes Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. "In light of escalating job losses, consumers are reluctant to undertake major remodeling projects."
The market has seen steady declines since the middle of 2007, although recently the rate of decline has flattened. "While we may be nearing the bottom of the remodeling cycle, there is little to push spending back into a growth phase until the economy recovers," explains Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program of the Joint Center.
Courtesy of Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University