Triangle Report - Raleigh Real Estate News

I have been hearing for a few months now that some publicly traded home builders are near the brink of bankruptcy (Beazer, KB Homes, etc) while others are currently undervalued and poised (Toll Brothers) to pop when the sector begins to recover. Who do you beleive in? Are there homebuilders that will survive the current credit crunch, especially amongst the ranks that are currently writing down land ownership at an astounding rate? I see consolidation coming ahead amongst the national home builders coming soon but then again I also thought that Yahoo would go to $400 and I would have retired by now some 7 years ago. Only time will tell.

News to view:

Real estate agents looking to add video to their listings can turn here.

Campbell Law School relocating to downtown Raleigh.

Civil law suit filed against Cary regarding unjust school impact fees.

Top selling subdivisions in Raleigh and…. Wakefield is not #1.

Renters are losing ground across the country.

Mortgage rates are easing around the country.

Minority ownership falls in 2006.

The National Association of Realtors released their report today stating, seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 6.5 percent in August from July and 21.5 percent from a year ago. The data suggest sales of existing homes will likely keep declining in the coming months, at least on a national perspective.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said the mortgage market impact is quantifiable. “Fewer contracts were being written because of mortgage availability issues, and a separate internal survey of our members shows more than 10 percent of sales contracts fell through at the last moment in August, primarily the result of canceled loan commitments,” he said. “The volume of activity we’re seeing today is below sustainable market fundamentals because some creditworthy people are trying to buy homes but can’t because of the credit crunch.

This news sucks for people that are stuck with poorly leveraged “investment properties” and people that bought their personal residences as personal piggy banks, but for those that purchased their home because they like their neighborhood, like their jobs and like their communities then such problems are not of chief concern. When they are ready to relocate 5, 7 or 10 years from today, no one has a clue what the market will look like.

News to Skim:

• Cute, smart, sexy and no place to stay the story of Duke sororities and the lost housing.

• Interest rates to fall to 3.75% by next year, from your mouth to God’s ears.

• Alexander Village at Brier Creek in goes for $16.8 million.

• 8 lessons to take away from playing Monopoly.

• Multi-million dollar “green” houses.

• Why NC will be recession proof.