Real estate Update

Steve Tyson’s Real Estate Update for 4 Subdivisions

Neuse Harbour  Active homes for sale by price range Current number of homes on the market=10 Pending sales=1 Active homes for sale by price range $190,000-$250,000=3 $295,000-$320,000=2 $,660,000-$1,095,000=5 There was 18 home that sold and closed in Neuse Harbour in the last 12 months. The most expensive house sold was $399,000.	Stately Pines Current homes on the market=6 Pending sales=0 Active homes for sale by price range $139,000-$200,000=4 $270,000-$699,000=3 There were 12 homes that sold and closed in Stately Pines in the last 12 months. The most expensive house sold was $244,000.
Carolina Pines Current homes on the market=15 Pending sales=3 Active homes for sale by price range $119,000-$$150,000=5 $169,000-$200,000=3 $200,000-262,000=6 $305,000=1 There were 20 homes that sold and closed in Carolina Pines in the last 12 months. The highest priced home sold was $255,000.	Tucker Creek Current homes on the market=3 Pending sales=2 Active homes for sale by price range $165,000=1 $259,000 $260,000 There were 10 homes that sold and closed in Tucker Creek in the last 12 months. The highest priced home sold was $229,000.

Total homes sold January 1-August  23 2007=1377

Total homes sold January 1-August  23 2008=1033

Total homes sold January 1-August  23 2009=751

Total homes sold January 1-August  23 2010=828

Total homes sold January 1-August  23.  2011=822

Total homes sold January 1-August  23 2012=835

There are currently 1360 homes listed for sale in our multiple listing service. We are selling homes at a rate of about 107 a month. .

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 each neighborhood can vary greatly.

Any suggestions to make this article better would be welcomed. I can be reached at SteveTyson@NCmove.com  And remember you can always visit me online at www.NewBern-NC.Info

                                      

Realtor Steve Tyson
The Tyson Group Realtors

Real Estate News

I would like to say the Real Estate Market is improving but to do so would not be accurate. In July there were 117 total sales in our MLS. Sales ranged from $27,000-$532,000. All this adds up to about a one year absorption rate, still a buyers market.

However, I am feeling some resistance to further decreases in prices. Seems like things were in somewhat of a free fall for several years and I think in many price ranges today prices are close to the bottom. Only time will tell.

With prices reasonable for the most part, and interest rates at historic lows, with a modest down payment you can buy a home cheaper than you can rent a home.

When will home prices start improving?

This question comes up quite often in my conversations with real estate prospects. My answer is always the same.
Real Estate prices will start improving when the economy starts growing and jobs are being created. The population of the US is growing and the growing population will require additional housing. Sooner or later, hopefully sooner, the demand of the additional growth in the population will put upward pressure on prices. But first, we need jobs and a growing economy.

The Food and Real Estate Connection

There have been some changes on Blogger and I am still adapting to them. Please excuse the current format. Three years ago, I blogged about a controversial landlord who had sold his portfolio of buildings right before the real estate market imploded, leaving the new owners holding the bag. Harlem tenants put landlord on notice - New York Daily News 'Worst landlord' puts bldgs. - & violations - on the block - New York So what has he been up to? Two years ago he was launching a new real estate fund.He was flipping real estate in his hometown. And even bought one of his sons an apartment Other than that there has been no reports of any real estate deals. What is interesting is that one of his sons has gone into the frozen yogurt business. So proud of this venture, he claims it is the first self service yogurt shop of its kind. Yogoberry 16 Handles , Red Mango and other self service frozen yogurt chains would beg to differ. But besides this inaccuracy, what’s the big deal about his child opening up a frozen yogurt shop? First of all self service frozen yogurt is a great business since and the markups are huge on the product itself and platform allows a lower overhead since it reduces labor costs significantly because the customer is doing most of the work. The son has been rather aggressive in opening up shops from Westchester to as far as Connecticut and Massachusetts. And the son is well versed in the real estate business so he has probably been able to get some sick deals on the rent. But there is no way he could do this on his own so it is very likely his father is fronting the money. Perhaps this a case of looking too hard at something but when a real estate investor has 200 million dollars burning a hole in their pocket, they are usually not looking to invest in a chain of self-service frozen yogurt shops. My theory why he is abstaining from the market, is that he has decided to sit on his cash because the real estate market has not spawned the deals that he seeks. At the same time, he's got to eat and so does his kids. The yogurt shops are just another revenue stream for the son to tide him over when things get better. He is also not alone Real Estate Agents With a Lot on Their Plates Restaurants and real estate go hand in hand since restaurant usually requires the services a very skilled broker to find the appropriate space. The real estate agent has replaced the waiter as the primary job for artistic professionals. The hours are just as flexible and although there is no salary, a good real estate agent can make more in a month than a waiter. Artists, particularly actors are ready made for sales. Although the overall tone of this article is quite hopeful for these real estate restauranteur, yet there is a very hidden yet ominous message in this article. It is not uncommon for real estate brokers or anyone to invest in any particular type of business. But what makes restaurants appealing to real estate brokers is the cash flow. A real estate broker gets paid on commission and even though those commissions can get very fat, they may have to wait months maybe years to close a deal. In the meantime they need another source of income, and currently I do not know of any firms giving out draws to their brokers at this time. A good restaurant is a license to print money and in these times all real estate brokers want that license. 2012 near the end, but it is still enough time for the Mayans to prove themselves right. So real estate brokers are hustling have no choice but to diversify their revenue streams.

New Bern Waterfront Homes

Waterfront Homes for Sale

In the past year I have sold 18 waterfront homes and believe we are starting to see some signs that waterfront home prices are starting to stabilize and could start tracking up. When you combine prices and interest rates owning a waterfront home has never been more affordable. If you are on the sideline, you better get in the hunt or you might wait to long. So call the New Bern waterfront expert today to help you find the best waterfront property for you.

New Bern and area home sales

Currently, there are 1387 homes listed for sale in our MLS System. Of these 90 are listed as Bank Owned, and 48 are listed as Short Sales.

During the past year there were 1214 homes sold in our MLS.  This equates to a little over a year absorption rate, not good news if you are a seller. However each price range varies in days on the market before a sale takes place and list price to sells price ratios. If you happen to be in a good price range you could expect to sell in under 120 days. When a house is priced to sell, buyers and buyers agents realize this, and will often make an offer closer to the asking price.

Although the number of bank owned properties is about as high as I have seen it, it is relatively low compared to the market as a whole, about 6%. Interestingly enough, bank owned properties accounted for about 16% of sales in the last year. This probably indicates that banks will get aggressive on their sales price especially when they are not sold in a reasonable time frame.

Year to date home sales are about the same as last year volume wise. Total dollar volume is however down 3%. I am not sure, but believe, this is due to home prices still sliding south.

New Home Sales


There are 154 new homes listed for sale in our MLS. In the last 365 days  237 new homes sold. Of these new home sales, 107 were priced from $150,000-$200,000 This compares to 282 new home sales in the year prior and 330 the year before that. Why are sales down 50% from 2 years ago? I believe this is largely due to banks being very cautious about construction loan lending, more folks looking at renting instead of buying, and attractive existing home prices.

I have read some words of encouragement regarding some housing markets, especially those that were hit the hardest. However, I believe the market will improve when the economy starts to create jobs, and I am not real confident the current President knows how to do this.

Dealing with the unknown

The Grunt is feeling a little tense right now. It is not because of the market or the economy. It is because the Grunt is expecting a new next door neighbor.

Back in 2009, the Grunt wrote about another noisy neighbor.

A letter to another 800lbs gorilla

That year management put their foot down and I never heard from them again. However, I got some cold stares from them and others associated with them but it was worth the peace and quiet.

I suspected something was up back in the fall of 2011  when I spotted the Gorilla's significant other being congratulated. I assumed it was because he proposed to her.

It was far more worse. She was pregnant.

Around February of 2012, the baby was born. And it was bliss. The only noise I heard were the cries of a baby.

But I knew the clock was ticking. The apartment they lived in was adequate for two but for three people, even with just a baby, it was too small. And soon they were gone.

I took certain steps to protect myself when new neighbors moved in but they resulted in failure. 

Recently, I smelled the odor of paint permeating from next door and I began to get concerned. The next day my worst fears were confirmed. There would be new tenants moving in.

I am not out of options yet. But I would rather not exercise them.

My state of mind in is rather odd. It is business as usual but I am aware that very soon I may have trouble on my hands. If that is the case. Then it means I have to start process all over again. Which I am not looking forward to.

Of course I might be overreacting. The new tenants may be people who despise loud music as much as I do. So all of this hand wringing might be moot. But in all honesty, I am expecting to deal with the tenants of hell.