JANUARY 15, 2009 ISSUE
Residential Real Estate Prices Still Holding Steady Compared to 2007
Laurelmor Sale and NC Home Builders Call for Federal Aid Make Real Estate Headlines
Residential home and lot sales numbers in the High Country didn’t change much from October to November. The year-to-date 2008 figures compared to the same period in 2007 still show prices slightly above where they were last year, based on median sold price data provided by the Avery-Watauga Association of REALTORS. But fewer houses and lots are selling, they’re staying on the market almost 30 percent longer and the inventory is up from last year.
For the January 1 to November 30, 2008 time period, the 896 MLS-listed houses and lots that sold in the High Country resulted in a median sold price of $242,250, compared to a median sold price for the same time period in 2007 of $238,500, representing an increase of 1.6 percent over last year. The median is the middle of a distribution: half the values are above it and half are below it. However, 28.8 percent fewer homes and lots have sold this year compared to last in that time period.
And they’re selling slower, going in an average of 198 days, compared to 178 days last year. Inventory is 12.2 percent higher than last year as well.
The figures show that 50 properties sold locally in November 2008, compared to sales of 103 properties in November 2007.
The active listings charts show that as of November 30, the Avery-Watauga Association MLS had 2,867 active listings, a decrease from the active listings as of October 31 (5,910) of 3,043. According to Avery-Watauga Association of Realtors Executive Officer Laurie Phillips, some listings are taken off the market during late November through the new year because homeowners don’t want show their properties during the holidays, some listings are taken off the market during the winter months because houses are closed for the winter and some people have chosen to rent their properties.
Of the active listings as of November 30, 2,256 are homes.
The home price category with the highest inventory is the $400,000 to $1,000,000 range with 637 houses for sale that account for 28 percent of the overall homes-for-sale inventory.
The next highest inventory category is homes listed under $200,000. A total of 560 homes are in this category, accounting for 25 percent of the overall inventory.
Laurelmor Sale
The biggest recent story in local real estate is the sale of Laurelmor to Reynolds Signature Communities, the developer of Reynolds Plantation golf community on Lake Oconee in Georgia. In December, affiliates of developer Ginn Company based in Celebration, Fla., filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions related to investments made in two high-end Florida communities: Tesoro in St. Lucie and Quail West in Florida.
The bankruptcy filings came after Ginn defaulted on $675 million in debt owed on four of its communities in June. The other two communities are Ginn sur Mer in Grand Bahama Island and Laurelmor. As part of the agreement with lenders, a court-appointed trustee will operate Tesoro and Quail West until they are sold. Laurelmor was sold. The Ginn sur Mer project will move forward as a joint venture.
In the press release announcing the sale, Laurelmor’s new owners said they expect to relaunch the 6,200-acre luxury golf community in the second half of 2009.
“Reynolds has been able to maintain solid sales through the recent real estate slowdown, largely due to the strength of the lifestyle created by the Reynolds family,” noted Terry Russell, president of Reynolds Signature Communities, in a statement. “The Reynolds name is well respected in the marketplace, and a luxury mountain community is a great complement to what has been done at Lake Oconee.”
North Carolina Housing Leaders Call on Congress To Help Main Street
Request Home Purchase Tax Credits and Low-Interest Loans
Last week, members of the North Carolina housing industry called on Congress to address the housing crisis that they maintain is at the root of the nation’s recession. To get the North Carolina economy moving again, the housing industry is urging Congress to support enhancements to the home buyer tax credit and provide below-market, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for home purchases.
Specifically, the industry asked for legislation that includes the following:
1. A 10 percent tax credit for all qualified homebuyers capped at 3.5 percent of FHA, Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan limits (equaling $10,000 to $22,000 depending on geographic market). All primary home purchases through December 31, 2009, would be eligible. The credit would be available at closing, making it easier for buyers to use it as a down payment, and repayment would be required only if the home were sold within three years.
2. A below-market, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for home purchases. The second component of the stimulus plan would provide qualified homebuyers with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 2.99 percent interest on contracts closed until June 30, 2009 and 3.99 percent interest on closings between June 30 and December 31, 2009.
3. Continued measures to reduce foreclosures and keep people in their homes.
Housing industry representatives cited a similar plan with both a tax credit and a mortgage rate subsidy that was enacted in 1975 when the nation was also in the midst of a recession. That successful stimulus plan jump-started the depressed economy, they said, and the effects continued in communities across the country long after the measure expired.
“Three million home building-related jobs across the country have been lost as a result of the slowdown in housing production, which represents $145 billion in lost wages and $4.9 billion in lost purchases,” said David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, in a statement. “Deterioration in these jobs has now spilled over into virtually all sectors of the U.S. job market and the economies of states like North Carolina.”
The housing leaders in North Carolina are part of a new coalition called Fix Housing First, consisting of more than 600 organizations, home building companies and manufacturers advocating for this major stimulus package to stem the decline in home values, stabilize financial markets and reignite consumer demand. To learn more about Fix Housing First, click to www.fixhousingfirst.com.
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