Wral triangle housing report, Realtors what do you make of it? (Raleigh: foreclosure, lease)

[jln69]

This is what I've seen. Similiar to what others have said. It is slowing. It is typical for this time of year, but I think it's a little slower. The good thing is that prices are not dropping. We are holding our own here. I am being cautious when pricing a listing now. I am not underpricing but pricing right at market value. Not like this past Spring when you could price a little higher and get it if not more.

[leighbhe]

I would agree with Vicki on this one as well.........the market is slowing, but it is also the time of the year that people are not moving as much. I was swamped in the spring, early summer, as people were trying to move and get settled before the school year began. Will people still come to the area? Yes. People are having trouble selling their homes in other locations in the country, so, that affects how quickly they can move here.

Wake county definitely is not for everyone, thankfully! I understand that some people have no choice but to move here for work, but the ones who are moving here for a "better, less expensive slower paced" way of life, need to know the good and the bad of the area, do research and make informed choices.

Overall, there is a slow down, and I have seen those ads with production builders giving thousands off of their homes, but I too question "the catch". I have not seen custom builders lowering their prices yet. I know, in my neighborhood, most of the custom builders will lower their price by about 10k for december and january, then bump the prices back up again in february.

Leigh

[ch123]

Originally Posted by leighbhe

Overall, there is a slow down, and I have seen those ads with production builders giving thousands off of their homes, but I too question "the catch". I have not seen custom builders lowering their prices yet. I know, in my neighborhood, most of the custom builders will lower their price by about 10k for december and january, then bump the prices back up again in february.

Leigh

Yeah, you are right about custom builders not lowering the price. But I think that will change soon. The pre-sales have slowed down to a halt and I have seen spec homes sitting on the market since the beginning of the year. And yes the list of homes is getting longer.

[MikeJaquish]

The numbers are the numbers. Hard to argue with.
Not going to try.

Anecdotally though, there are tons of buyers here in the price ranges that aren't glutted with inventory. Tons of active, but cautious, buyers, and demand here is still very high.
I get multiple inquiries weekly, unrelenting from summer, it seems.
When some of the fog lifts, and I don't believe for a moment that it will take years and years, pent-up demand will bust out here.

In the meantime, sellers who think they will get top-dollar cash-outs for ill-kept, grubby, bug infested homes will need a fix of reality. (and I am still seeing them, despite ongoing reports of a Buyers' market)


“In certain price ranges, we're seeing quite a lot of stagnation,” real estate agent Gilbert Hensgen said.
Yep.

But the good stuff in great locations, priced right, lower than $600,000+ range will continue to do well, IMO.

[Gurl]

Originally Posted by VickiR

A "bargain"? Well, I never thought THAT! Ask my clients coming in from Georgia if they think its such a bargain to buy here! The only folks that really consider our low housing costs a bargain are the people coming in from the overinflated markets such as Florida and California and New Jersey.

The entire state of Georgia isn't exactly how I would categorize home buyers - who do you work for again??

I've lived in Atlanta, DC, Los Angeles, and several parts of NYC...to me the Triangle housing market is a bargain. (A boring bargain, but still a bargain)

With all of the new building, I do fear that it will start to become more like Atlanta...prior to the Olympics, Atlanta was a lovely city...post Olympics it's a traffic-jammed, poor-air quality, over priced city.)

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by Gurl

The entire state of Georgia isn't exactly how I would categorize home buyers - who do you work for again??

I've lived in Atlanta, DC, Los Angeles, and several parts of NYC...to me the Triangle housing market is a bargain. (A boring bargain, but still a bargain)

With all of the new building, I do fear that it will start to become more like Atlanta...prior to the Olympics, Atlanta was a lovely city...post Olympics it's a traffic-jammed, poor-air quality, over priced city.)

I think you misunderstood what I was saying.

The post was about living in NC and finding housing such a bargain in comparison to Georgia.

My comment was that I had clients from Georgia and they did not think this area was a bargain (meaning our housing was more expensive).

Vicki

[Wanna Leave Penciltucky]

I bought a house in NC in 1992 the interest rate was 8.5% not 12.
I also have lived in NJ and the triangle is South Jersey if anything and that was in the 80's not today. The research triangle was planned over 25 years ago and they knew full well that highly qualified people were going to want better housing this is not a new thing here.
I have said this at least 3 other times, when people cannot sell their homes elsewhere the inventory will sit. This market is odd and the economy is adjusting itself.
I think that people who came to NC and bought the fairly expensive homes (houses over 400 grand are considered luxury homes) are going to have to stay in them a while if the market keeps up as it is. If a builder is selling houses 40 grand cheaper than what you paid in the same subdivision; apples to apples and oranges to oranges; you will have to acknowledge you bought on the high end and your equity will have to stick it out to equal out.
I think a lot of people bought homes that were inflated in price based on the summer influx. They had mad equity money and now the market will right itself as it always does.
When I got to the area in 1991 no one was building 2000 sq ft houses and I called builders and they laughed at me. I was ready to plunk down an insane price to get what I wanted too. Moral of the story is this you buy what you want where you want and pay whatever you like. The market will right itself and NC is not like North Jersey its like Central and South in the 80's which means its just flexing with the incoming population.
No panicking!!!

[saturnfan]

I moved here by chance in 1989.

Was laid off in New Orleans and found work here for 30% less.

Wonderful break. Our kids did great in WCPSS and NCSU. We got back to the Lord after 20 years.

I love my 2 BR flat in North Raleigh and don't feel Raleigh lacks for anything compared to NY, NJ, LA, and CA (having lived in these places).

For those who find it too costly, consider scaling down your desires to match your budget. Much less stress.

Best to all.

[TuborgP]

Oh well, ran into a real estate agent last night up here in Maryland who just sold the house of a mutual friend for 120K less then the original asking price. She is moving out of state (Carolina not the Triangle) and is unhappy that she can't buy the house she wants. But she can still pay cash for a nice house. That is a bubble. The house was on the market almost a whole year and the folks who owned it were about 3 months late in lowering the price. They kept chasing the old price of three months ago. Now add to it the attached about foreclosure rates in Maryland along with a 1.5 Billion dollar deficit and what do you have? A lot of older folks with equity in their house who want to get out of town. Vicki I believe from a previous post you may have chatted with some of them but declined to take them on as clients. Hmmm where do they want to come to? The square? No thats not it. The Circle? No thats not it. Charlotte? Some. Atlana? Some.
Hmmm theres another shape can't think of what it is. Oh well only time will tell how it plays out for us in the Triangle. Nice to be a wanted/desirable town and even nicer to have done the sell part and just waiting for settlement in the place people want to be.
Foreclosures Skyrocket In Maryland - WBAL Radio - wbal.com

Now thats a bubble.

[omamia]

I'm wondering whether the foreclosure rate is like in the Triangle right now. I know it's no where near as CA, FLA, MD, and NJ. As a side note, in our old condo complex where we rented in San Diego, there are now 5 foreclosures out of about 200 condos. Selling a 950 sq ft. condo for 500,000 is just not sustainable in the long run. We also would have been evacuated if we were still living there now. I can't tell you how happy I am we moved to NC.

But I'm wondering are foreclosures up higher than usual. I'm seeing them posted on craigslist quite a bit.

Listings

and

this one, PREFORECLOSURE-MUST CLOSE BY OCT 24TH (broken link)

Will foreclosures increase as ARMS reset in the next coming months?