April Home Sales

How are Home sales in April so far? Lets take a look

April 1-April 27 2013=102  of these 31 were Bank Owned

April 1-April 27 2012=99    of these 17 were Bank Owned

April 1-April 27 2011=92    of these 28 were Bank Owned

April 1-April 27 2012=72    of these 4  were Bank Owned

The key number to watch is the Bank Owned sales. When that number starts to decline Home prices should start to firm up.

New Bern Real Estate-Home Sales 2013

Home sales in New Bern and Havelock through April 20-2013

Total homes sold January 1-April 20 , 2010=301

Total homes sold January 1-April 20.  2011=348

Total homes sold January 1-April 20.  2012=329

Total homes sold January 1-April 20.  2013=375

There are currently 1430 homes listed for sale in our multiple listing service. We are selling homes at a rate of about 140 a month.. A buyers market is defined as more than 6 months of home inventory. It is definitely a buyer’s market as we currently have about 10 months worth of inventory. With that said each neighborhood and price range is unique

Home sales in each neighborhood can vary greatly. Feel free to call or email me if you would like to have a customized absorption rate or a Comparable Market Analysis for your property. 

Home sales in the New Bern-Havelock market are up over last year. However, all of the increase is attributable to Bank Owned homes sold. We are still working through distressed properties in New Bern and I hope by the end of the year the worst will be behind us. Right now, about .07% of the listings on the MLS are Bank Owned. However, 33% of Home Sales through April 20 have been Bank Owned. This number has to, and I believe will, go down. 

SteveTyson55@gmail.com  

 www.NewBern-NC.Info

New Bern Home Sales

Year to date home sales through March 31, 2013

So far we have had 221 home sales in Craven County. 58 of these sales were $100,000 and under. 112 of these sales were between $100,001 and $200,000. 20 were between $200,001 and $250,000. 16 were between $250,001 and $300,000. 7 were between $300,001 and $400,000. 6 were sold over $400,000. Of these Jana and I sold 3. The most expensive sold has been $943,500. My wife Jana sold that one. 

Last year during the same time we had sold 201 homes. Only 3 were sold over $400,000 and the most expensive home sold was $450,000. 

So all in all the numbers look better but Bank Owned sales are up this year by 18. This accounts for almost all of the increase in sales this year, but I am still somewhat optimistic because of the increase in higher end sales. 

New Bern Home Sales.

For the first time in 6 years I am feeling more optimistic about the national Real Estate Market and to a lesser degree the New Bern market. While I am inclined to be suspicious about reports by the main stream media about the improvement of home sales, in select markets, the recent reports about an improving housing markets have some validity.

Jana and I recently attended a national Keller Williams convention in Dallas where we received recognition for sales in excess of 16 Million Dollars. While at the convention I spoke to agents from California, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Florida. As you know these states were among the hardest hit by the housing recession. All the agents I spoke to in California, Washington, Texas and Colorado said the biggest problem they had right now was lack of inventory. It was a sellers market and they were getting multiple offers on homes. The agents in Nevada, Florida, Arizona, said their markets were heading in the right direction and they were in recovery. 

The million dollar question is what is driving the recovery in these areas.  Remember that these markets started to tank several years before our market did. They had tons on foreclosures coming on the market 2-3 years before we started experiencing any increase here. Recently investment companies have bought large quantities of bank owned properties in these areas, often at 50-60 cents on the dollar. Some of the investors are renting the homes which reduces the supply of homes for sale. Combine this  with an increasing population, and  new home construction at a virtual standstill, results in a shortage of inventory in some areas of the country. Another point of interest is that nationally, foreclosures are at the lowest level since 2007. Not true here, bank owned still increasing. 

In Craven County, sales are up 16%,  year to date. That is good news, however bank owned sales are also up 78% year to date. Hopefully we are flushing out many of distressed properties. Until they are out of the system prices for non bank owned will continue to be negatively affected.  I believe we are at the bottom of the market and while it remains a challenging time to sell, there has never been a better time to buy a home that right now.

If you have any questions about the market in any specific areas send me an email and we will give you a custom report of your area. 

How did New Construction do in 2012?

New Home Sales in Craven County for 2012

                                                 

Home building and land development is a very important industry in Craven County. It provides employment for quite a few folks and each home built or parcel of land developed  adds to the tax base. Additionally, think of all the other jobs home building affects. Although I have been a licensed Real Estate Broker since 1979 I built homes for 15 years. It is a tough, demanding, and risky business. But at the same time it can be a very satisfying way to make a living. I still proudly point out the homes I built when I pass by them with real estate clients.

So, how did new construction fare in Craven County in 2012 as compared to prior years? Let's take a look.

2012=223 new homes sold

2011=228 new homes sold

2010=297 new homes sold

2009=300 new homes sold

2008=328 new homes sold

2007=504 new homes sold

2006=676 new homes sold

2005=679 new homes sold

2004=288 new homes sold

This is as far back as I can go with my research but I would guess the number of new homes sold  in 2003 was around 230 and 2002  around 215.

Below are new homes sold in 2012 by price range.

$100,000-$150,000=43

$151,000-$200,000=110

$201,000-$250,000=58

Over $250,000=12

Who bought these new homes?

I am going to take a SWAG and say that at least 60 percent of new homes were purchased by active duty military and another 10 percent by civilians that work on Cherry Point. I came up with this number by looking at the areas where the homes were sold and using my knowledge of the particular neighborhoods. I bet I am not off by much. Think Cherry Point is not important to this area? Think again. Please note that these numbers do not reflect any custom homes built that were not entered into the MLS but I have not seen many custom homes going up in the past year. 

2012 was the seventh straight year that the number of new homes built have decreased. I am fairly confident that we could break that trend in 2013. Lets hope so

If you have any questions on this data please feel free to contact me at 514 9157..

  

The year in review

You may have been hearing chatter in the news about home prices starting to rise. This could be the case  in some markets, particularly those that were hit the hardest like Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. In these markets home prices were so depressed there was no way to go but up. However I have not seen prices rising  in the New Bern area although they seem to be stabilizing and personally believe we are close to the bottom of the market. Homes are currently selling at around 1999-2000 price levels.

From 01-01-12 through 12-22-12 there have been 951 homes sold in Craven County. This compares to 930 during the same time frame in 2011. A little bump and certainly I welcome any positive news. During the same time period in 2011 there were 249 distressed properties, (bank owned, foreclosures, short sales), sold. In 2012 there have been 227 distressed properties sold, almost a 10% decrease. However, in Oct., Nov., Dec. 2012 saw a 17% increase in distressed property sales compared to the same time in 2011. It is impossible to have a housing recovery as long the rate of distressed properties sold is increasing. Lets hope the trend of the last 3 months ends soon.

In 2012 distress properties comprised 24% of the home sales in the Craven County market. Even though this is an improvement over 2011, (27%), in a healthy market this number probably would be in the 2-4% range. Nationwide distressed sales comprise about 25% of sales so were are not any worse than most areas if that makes you feel better. Lending guidelines were tightened up after the mortgage crash in 2008 and in the long run this will result in a decrease in foreclosures and ultimately help stabilize housing prices.

We have a long way to go, however, it appears we are moving in the right direction. We need for the economy to start improving and producing private sector jobs before we see home prices rise. Each year our population is growing and with that more folks are coming of the age to buy a home. There is undoubtedly a pent up demand for housing out there lurking and what is missing in a in a strong housing recovery are good jobs.

Homes sold in 2012 by price range,

$1000-$50000=97
$50001-$100000=183
$101000-$150000=245
$150100-$200000=258
$200100-$250000=134
$250100-$300000=53
$300100-$350000=20
$350100-$400000=19
$400100-$450000=8
$450100-$500000=3
$500100-$550000=4
$550100-$600000=3

For homes over $250,000 there is about a 21 month absorption rate. In other words, expect it to take 21 months to sell a home in this price range unless a home offers something unique. Retirees use to be a large portion of the buyers in this price range. Because they had to sell their homes at a reduced price to move here they are now buying less expensive homes. Active duty military officers  use to buy quite a few homes in this price range as well and now many now are opting to rent. All this makes for tough selling conditions for homes over $250,000.

If you have any questions about any particular price range or even sales in a particular subdivision let me know. I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas.

For more information on Real estate go to www.newbern-nc.info

What a year!

Steve and Jana Tyson would like to take this time to thank all of our customers we have had the opportunity to help this past year. We will close $15 million in Real Estate, or real close to that number, this year. This will put us in the top 5% of Realtors nationwide and we could not have done it without you. Thank each and every one of you for your business.

Have a great Christmas,