Archive for May, 2011
Graphic image of home prices in the Triangle
Real estate is not only local, it’s hyper-local, so this graph doesn’t tell the story of every community in the Triangle. But it gives us a clear picture of home price trends over the past few years. (Click on image to enlarge it.) Other data from the Triangle MLS April report is that the absorption [...]
Triangle is #22 in real estate searches
According to the April 2011 report from Realtor.com, the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area is #22 in real estate searches, up from #23 in March. #22 may not seem so great until you consider that this is 22 out of 146 search areas. The average price searched for was $219,000 which is a relatively low price for [...]
Triangle Modernist Homes
The Triangle area of North Carolina evidently has the third largest concentration of Modernist homes in the country, exceeded only by Los Angeles and Chicago, according to this really interesting website. Modernist architecture is different from what we call “contemporary” architecture which tends to feature lots of wood and vaulted ceilings. Modernist architecture includes clean, [...]
Tips to increase the life of your appliances
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that as appliances become cheaper and cheaper they don’t last as long. My mother’s toaster, which was a wedding gift in 1950, just gave up the ghost a few years ago. My old washer which I purchased in 1986 was still going strong in 1998 but the [...]
First-time buyers will save the housing market
There’s more doom and gloom in housing market news with this article in Forbes Magazine: Every six months Trulia and RealtyTrac.com, an Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listing site, pair up for a homeowners survey conducted by Harris Interactive. The results of the last one, released in December, anticipated a 2012 housing market recovery. Between the sites’ own research and [...]
Gas prices deal a blow to the rural market
The Chapel Hill/Carrboro real estate market includes a large rural area as well, including northern Chatham County and the rest of Orange County. The wonderful thing about living in our area is that you can live out in the country and enjoy downtown amenities in one of our small towns ( Hillsborough, Durham, Chapel Hill, [...]
The new Carrboro CVS is one step closer to reality
What’s the controversy over CVS in Carrboro? CVS Caremark has formally submitted plans to develop the northwest corner of West Weaver Street and North Greensboro Street into a mixed use building which will ultimately house a CVS drugstore. CVS currently has a store across the street in the Carr Mill Mall complex next to the [...]
No property tax increase for Orange, Chatham and now Wake Counties
All three of these counties are working on a revenue-neutral budget for the 2011 fiscal year that will not include an increase in the property tax rate. This is good news for the communities, all of which experienced tax revaluations in 2008-2009 after housing values had crashed from the highs of previous years. The Wake [...]
What sellers can do in a bad market
I’ve been trying to keep an optimistic face on the situation… … but there’s no denying it: this is a very bad market for sellers. I recently did an analysis for clients of mine of how many showings are taking place for homes in their area and price range, and with 21 homes on the [...]
Home sellers think prices are rising, could they be right?
79% of NC agents believe prices have decreased HomeGain has published the results of their first quarter 2011 survey results of North Carolina agents, reporting that 79% of the agents polled think that homes have decreased in value in the last year, with 5% saying that home prices have increased and 16% reporting that prices [...]
