How The Housing Market Will Recover

CNNMoney published an article illustrating that home values have risen for the first time in 5 years, go here to read the entire article.

We are starting to see that same trend in the downtown Charlotte market as well. 

There are fewer properties on the market than there have been in 10 years.  Ten Years!  It is no wonder when you consider how the value of property has eroded due to inflated prices and a diminishing market.  The only people who were putting property on the market were those who needed to sell.

The big change in this market is that buyers, buoyed by stability in their personal situation coupled with low prices, and low interest rates, are coming back into the market.  YTD 2012 downtown properties are selling for slightly more than 96% of the asking price while the same time period of 2011 showed that selling price to be slightly less than 95% of the asking price.  22% of the properties sold this year were at or above the asking price.

Realtors will tell you that there are often multiple offers coming in for listings.  These activities will drive up prices.

Now for the "800 pound gorilla in the room", foreclosures!  Actually that should be foreclosures and short sales.  There is a good amount of these properties that are selling, and a bigger amount that await being put on the market.  It is a clearing out process that has to happen. 

The difference today is that there are buyers, both homeowners as well as investors, who look for these financially distressed properties to provide them with avenues for financial growth in an otherwise slow investment market.

So, stay tuned, or better yet call me, 704-236-7119, to take advantage of the recovery!

Downtown Charlotte Sales Gain Momentum

In stark contrast to the past 4 years, downtown sales are running ahead of last year to the tune of 11% while sale prices this year are lagging 2011 by -1.1%.

Additionally, there are fewer properties available, 113, than there have been for over 10 years.  I am a big believer in the law of Supply and Demand, and the trend clearly shows that housing prices are set to begin to increase.

In the past week alone, I wrote 4 contracts that all met with multiple offer scenarios for the properties, and all the contracts went to other buyers!   It is not something I am happy about, but it is reflective of an increase in buyer activity in this market.

The map shows a graphical representation of where people are buying in downtown Charlotte this year.  The majority of activity is clearly in the Fourth Ward.

With interest rates still at historic lows, and prices still near bottom, the time to buy, or even invest, has never been better.

When Will The BBT Baseball Stadium Begin?

The political posturing has pretty much ended.  The Knights, have arranged financing, have found corporate sponsors and founding partners, they have released renderings of the new stadium on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and South Graham Streets, and have received endorsements from both the city and county governments.  Jerry Reese not withstanding, the next step seems to be shovels in the ground.

Not so fast!  The construction must start by October 1, but several things will happen first.

The DNC is forcing a relocation of the Transportation Mall from Brevard and Trade to Mint and Third Streets.  Here is a release from CATS:

CATS is moving the transportation center Sept. 3-5 to a temporary location at South Mint and Third streets -- and bus routes will change because of that.
From late July through August, CATS will conduct a series of transportation fairs in uptown buildings, at the current transportation center and at certain LYNX stations. Attendees will learn how buses will be rerouted during the DNC and information on shuttles between the LYNX Blue Line Carson Station to the temporary transit center.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/18/3389700/transit-fairs-will-detail-dnc.html#storylink=cpy

So, nothing will happen until after the convention, but once that happens, look out!  Fourth Street will be widened between Graham and Mint to accomodate 2 way traffic on that stretch.  Once widened, the existing branch of Third Street will be removed.  On the heals of that, the Virginia Paper building will be razed to make a contiguous block from MLK Jr. Blve to Fourth, Mint to Graham.  Then the pile driving and site preperation will begin. 

By next summer at this time, it should be looking pretty much like a stadium, no seats yet, and maybe no light poles yet but the shell will be there. 

Excting times are on their way.

Updating The Bike Stations

The sample period of Charlotte B-cycle was a tremendous success! Here are the numbers from Thursday, July 12 – Sunday July 15:

Close to 300 people sampled the Charlotte B-cycle program over the 3 and a half days. We had 35-40 bikes in the system at any given time.

Memberships through today:

· Annual – 46

· Daily – 210

· Total – 256

The demographics of ridership was very diverse in all ways. Those who signed up through Sunday received a free bike helmet. Helmets will also be on sale at Charlotte B-Cycle “Hub” at the United Way Gymnasium at 3^rd and Brevard for $10, which is our cost.

Now, the system is off line so that we can build the other 18 stations. We have not announced when the full system will “Go Live”. We anticipate end of July, first of August. It depends on the construction, installation and testing schedule for the other 18 stations.

Please check out the Facebook page and website: http://www.facebook.com/CharlotteBCycle or www.CharlotteBCycle.com for information. Folks can get more information and sign up for Annual Memberships during this next two week period on line or by visiting the Hub.

The construction schedule: three stations went in successfully today at Presbyterian Hospital (Elizabeth Avenue), Levine Avenue of the Arts and Third and Tryon (Wells Fargo Plaza).

Two Of The Bike Rental Stations

By the Seventh Street Station Market

By the Omni Hotel

Well, now we know two of the Bike Rental Stations.

BBT Ballpark From Graham Street

Just a quick note.  I received some renderings from a friend showing perspectives of the new ballpark that have not yet been seen.

Enjoy this view looking east from Graham Street towards the city.

Wine Tastings At The Public Market

As many of you know, when Reid's closed their Seventh Street Station location, the wine tasting group I belonged to moved to The Historic Dunhill Hotel.  It has proved to be a good move.

But now, The Public Market that has taken the former Reid's site has added a wine vendor, Bond Street Wines.  They held their first tasting last Thursday evening, and had a nice crowd show up. 

Their wine selection, while not as broad as Reid's, contains some recognizable labels as well as some specialty labels that they import themselves.

It has been 2 years since I last sat in that building and enjoyed a glass of wine, and it brought back nice memories.  But those pages have been turned.

The Public Market is slowly gaining momentum.  Additional anchor tenants are coming in and some of the existing tenants are gaining broad support.  While the acceptance of the Market will hinge on repeat customers, those customers will only return if they can appreciate the value of a Market like this.

The Public Market is trying to condense decades of familiarity that other Public Markets around the country have developed into a few years.  The success of this Market will help to further develop a positive growth for our property values.

Housing Market Recovery

Go here for an article in the New York Times last week that talks about the recovering housing market.

Signs here have been clear all year, and most of my fellow Realtors will concur.  There are several things in the NYT article that I would like to highlight.
          

"But roughly six years after the housing market began its longest and deepest slide since the Great Depression, a growing number of experts and people who actually put money into housing believe the end has come. "

              

"The trend is clear in the data. The widely respected S.&P./Case-Shiller index reported earlier this week that sales prices for existing homes rose in April for the first time this year. Several other measures, including a seasonally adjusted version of the index, show that price increases began in February. The pace of housing construction has increased. And the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that pending home sales climbed to the highest level since the end of a federal tax credit for first-time buyers in September 2010. "

The population has continued to grow while few new homes have been built.   Basic indicators of market health that bulged during the bubble, like the ratio of housing prices to income, have returned to more normal levels.

      

“All bets are off if anything happens to the economy, but apart from that, I think the fundamentals look better than they’ve looked in 17 or 18 years,” said Richard K. Green, a professor of real estate at the University of Southern California.

The number of homes for sale has been falling for more than a year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Some owners are waiting for prices to rise; some of them must wait because they are underwater.  Mr. Niece, a Minnesota real estate agent, said he and his partner had seen their book of listings decline from about 120 properties to 70 properties, about 45 of which already are under contract.  “I have buyers every single day complaining that they can’t find houses,” he said.

Go and read the entire article, but the points are clear.  Prices are down but stabilized; Interest rates are lower than anyone can remember; Inventory is low; Buyer demand is rising.

 We need listings!