In some housing markets, homes aren't only retaining value -- they're gaining
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:37 p.m. EDT April 21, 2008

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Challenging real estate markets can be found across the U.S. as home prices decline, sales fall and foreclosures rise. But in some places the biggest challenge has been convincing would-be buyers and sellers that local conditions don't resemble the national trends.

It's a challenge that Randy Jeffers, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors, faces all the time.
While the number of sales has fallen somewhat, he still regards his market of Amarillo, Texas, as a seller's market right now. The median price of an existing single-family home in Amarillo was up an annualized 11% in the fourth quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors.

"Often they're surprised about what is going on locally or statewide," he said of his clients. As the country's collective housing ills land bold headlines, locals incorrectly extrapolate the information to their own markets, Jeffers added.

The housing problems largely aren't national but regional in nature, said Susan Wachter, a real estate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

"The interesting thing is that there are parts of the country where housing prices are doing fine, thank you," she said. In fact, only five states are in what she would consider a housing recession: California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Michigan.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, 73 out of 150 metropolitan areas showed an increase in the median existing single-family home price compared with the same quarter in 2006, according to statistics from the national Realtors group.

That isn't to say these markets are immune from some national trends.

For one, stricter lending standards put in place in the wake of poor mortgage performance in many parts of the country are affecting people regardless of where they live. Requirements of larger down payments and higher credit scores are keeping some people from buying homes, especially first-time buyers, and are often driving down the volume of sales.

If the job picture weakens as a result of a slowing economy, that could also affect some of the most stable markets.

Recently, however, the places where homes seem to be holding the most value are those where prices didn't surge during the boom years and where economies are staying strong. In large cities, it's often the areas that are located closest to the city's core.

Places the boom forgot

Single-digit appreciation may have looked meager in the years of the boom, when red-hot markets experienced bidding wars and high investor interest. Now, as some markets experience steep price drops, those rates aren't looking so bad after all.

Areas in upstate New York, Texas, some Rocky Mountain states and the Carolinas are faring better than the rest of the country in terms of price appreciation these days, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

In general, there weren't caravans of speculators in these areas driving up prices. Plus -- unlike some trouble spots in the Midwest such as Detroit -- many of the local economies in these markets remained stable.

Utah -- where home prices rose 9.27% in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the fourth quarter of 2006 -- was the state with the highest appreciation rate, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Utah was followed by Wyoming, where prices rose 8.27% over the year, North Dakota, where prices rose 7.87%, and Montana, where prices rose 6.90%.

Still, in Billings, Mont., buyers often say they're waiting for prices to come down, said Dan Wagner, president of the Montana State Association of Realtors. But because they never soared during the boom years, prices likely aren't in need of a correction, he said.

Where the jobs are

The strong employment picture in Seattle caused home prices there to rise after other major cities reached their peaks. Appreciation there in the fourth quarter was just over 1%, according to NAR, but it is believed that the city's employment landscape is keeping Seattle housing from losing value.

A similar situation is shaping up in other markets.

If you would like to buy or sell Wilmington, NC real estate, contact Sandy and Steve Thornton for all your home buying and selling needs.

 Specializing in Wilmington, Leland, Hampstead, Sneads Ferry, Jacksonville, Topsail Island including Surf City, Topsail Beach, North Topsail Beach, Beach and waterfront properties covering New Hanover County, Pender County, Brunswick County and Onslow County areas

The 9 Steps to Home Ownership in Wilmington NC Real Estate

Step - 1 Make the Decision to Buy
It seems obvious, but it's good to note that the first step to buying a house is making the decision to buy. Consider the reasons you want a new house and write them down. Determine how long you want to live in the new house - does buying still make good financial sense? Can you afford a house that will meet your list of requirements? A good rule of thumb is your mortgage payment should not exceed 1/3 of your net monthly income.

Step 2 - Seek Professional Guidance
We would like to schedule a time to meet with you to hear the reasons you want to buy a house and your plans for the future. We'll talk about neighborhoods, schools, economic factors liable to affect the market today and tomorrow, as well as how you would like your house and neighborhood to grow with you.

At this time, we will also help you get pre-qualified for a mortgage loan. Pre-qualification is a written statement from a loan officer indicating his or her opinion that you will be approved for a mortgage loan up to a certain amount. The fact that you are pre-qualified will help us when we are negotiating the deal.

Step 3 - Begin the Hunt
After our initial meeting, we will search all our resources for houses on the market that fit your criteria. We will preview these houses to eliminate the duds. Then, we'll schedule appointments to tour the houses at times convenient to you.

As we tour houses, we'll point out positive features and negative features. Our qualified agent will ask you to tell them what you like and what you don't like. You'll probably amend your "wish list" as we tour houses, some things will become more important and others less important. With this new information, we'll refine our search criteria to narrow in on the house of your dreams.

Step 4 - Know the Market
Our knowledge of the local market is an essential factor in the house search. We'll let you know when the market in a particular neighborhood is "hot" and requires immediate action or when the market is "cool" and allows for thoughtful consideration. As we tour houses, we'll let you know when the asking price has negotiating room and when the house is "priced to sell". Our unique market knowledge will keep you a step ahead of the "house hunting competition".

In a "seller's market" it is not unusual to see multiple offers on a property, full-price offers and even above-price offers. On the flip side, during a "buyer's market" there are more houses for sale than buyers. This gives us more negotiating room as houses are taking longer to sell.

Step 5 - Find Your Dream House
We are confident our agents we'll find your dream house. When they do, they'll put together the purchase offer tailored for your needs including appropriate contingencies (such as obtaining financing, favorable home inspection, clear title, etc.). The offer is normally presented with "earnest money". This is a cash deposit made to a home seller to secure an offer to buy the property. The amount is applied to closing costs. If the seller accepts the offer, generally closing is held 30 to 60 days from the offer date (generally dependent on the turn around time of your mortgage financing).

Step 6 - Negotiate the Deal
It is not uncommon to receive a counter offer when the initial purchase offer is submitted. Don't let this discourage you. We will discuss the counter offer and decide whether or not to accept the counter offer, submit our own counter offer, or reject the counter offer and move on. Market conditions will play a role in how aggressively we negotiate the deal. We will also work within your limits. Emotions can lead to buyer's remorse. It is better to set limits prior to negotiating an offer and stick to these limits.

Step 7 - Get a Loan
During the closing period, you will be working with your mortgage lender to close the loan. Since you pre-qualified for the loan before starting your home search, you will be that much closer to the end. We will gather the necessary property information your lender will need to close the loan.

Step 8 - Close the Deal
You will receive a "Good Faith Estimate" of closing costs at the time the loan application is submitted to the lender. The estimate is based on the loan officer's past experience and may not include all the closing costs.

Step 9 - Move In
Congratulations! It's time to move into your new house and make it your home. Enjoy this exciting time. We'll give you a checklist to help you remember the numerous details that will make your moving day a pleasure.

 If you would like to buy or sell Wilmington, NC real estate, contact Sandy and Steve Thornton for all your home buying and selling needs.

Specializing in Wilmington, Leland, Hampstead, Sneads Ferry, Jacksonville, Topsail Island including Surf City, Topsail Beach, North Topsail Beach, Beach and waterfront properties covering New Hanover County, Pender County, Brunswick County and Onslow County areas

I wanted to share this article about our local real estate market. Even though we keep hearing about the housing crisis across the country, there are some positive signs. Let's hope the trend continues for Coastal North Carolina real estate.

Housing Market in Wilmington NC stays strong amid crisis
By Wayne Faulkner
Business Editor
wayne.faulkner@starnewsonline.com

Almost everyone in the U.S. has felt some aspect of the housing and credit crisis - but some have felt it a lot more than others.

Homeowners around the Cape Fear region can count themselves lucky, though, because the Wilmington-area housing market has remained relatively strong as sales have plunged across the country and, along with them, prices in some places.

Not so here. While median home prices dropped 1.4 percent nationally in 2007, they actually rose here by 3.6 percent, to $211,377, according to data from the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS®.

North Carolina in general had the seventh highest appreciation in home prices among the states in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, a U.S. agency whose data is considered especially comprehensive and reliable.

Why would the Wilmington area fare so well even as places like Florida, Nevada and California find themselves in a housing tailspin?

"Wilmington is a regional area that offers medical services and shopping, the arts, the university. These are things that are hard to put out of business," she said.

"We have enough diversity in our job market that we should have a lot of economic stability in this area."

Wilmington comes closer to mirroring the national picture in sales, which fell here by 17.6 percent in 2007 while they dropped 12.8 percent nationally. But both numbers follow the go-go days of 2005, and those sales were unsustainable, Lacy and other real estate agents say. While Wilmington-area sales are down 31 percent from 2005 levels, they are up 63.5 percent from 2001. Sales in 2007 were lower than in 2004, but higher than in 2003, Lacy pointed out.

"We've gone back to a normal market," Lacy said, pointing out that average days on the market for homes here rose from 66 in 2006 to 95 days in 2007 - still just five days more than the typical listing agreement. Meanwhile, sellers in 2007 were still getting 97.35 percent, on average, of the list price of their homes, she said. That was down only slightly from 96.59 percent in 2006.

But, if your home is sitting and others are selling, it might have something to do with your price range.

"Things are selling in a couple of different price ranges," Lacy said.

"The markets that are $400,000 and less have a quick turnaround," she said. "The mid-market ($400,000 to $1 million) has a lot of inventory" because "there are not a lot of move-ups because of the media," Lacy said, referring to news coverage of the real estate markets. "So, it's a stronger buyers' market in the $400,000 to $1 million range.

"The upper luxury market is not as affected by day-to-day economic issues," she added.

The Wilmington area figures include new construction homes (the national data do not), and because of rising costs to build and also escalating land prices, newly built homes can cost more than existing ones.

"New construction can lift prices, but more typically with existing homes you're looking at a different buyer profile," Lacy said. "Typically you're going to get more home with existing because it is usually at a lesser rate per square foot."

The number of Wilmington-area new construction homes sold in 2007 dropped 29.5 percent, to 1,631 from 2,325 in 2006, according to the REALTORS®. But Lacy said the sales drop was accompanied by a gain in new construction prices with the average price rising 4.5 percent, to $308,450 in 2007.

Understanding the Southeastern North Carolina housing market -- or most markets across the country -- can be confusing because the data do not follow city or county lines, but rather the areas served by more than one multiple listing service, or MLS.

The MLS that serves Wilmington covers all of New Hanover and Pender counties, parts of Brunswick and extends into other area counties like Duplin and Onslow. So, the data is not just for Wilmington or for New Hanover County.

Additionally, part of Brunswick County is served by another MLS used by the Brunswick County Association of REALTORS®. Data from that MLS is not examined here because year-end figures were not available from the North Carolina Association of REALTORS®.

The figures from the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of REALTORS® include houses, condominiums and townhouses, but not multifamily properties like duplexes or apartment buildings.

Wayne Faulkner: 343-2329

If you would like to buy or sell Wilmington, NC real estate, contact Sandy and Steve Thornton for all your home buying and selling needs.

Specializing in Wilmington, Leland, Hampstead, Sneads Ferry, Jacksonville, Topsail Island including Surf City, Topsail Beach, North Topsail Beach, Beach and waterfront properties covering New Hanover County, Pender County, Brunswick County and Onslow County areas