January 2011 Summary

The Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach Real Estate market in general is doing OK, but we still have a way to go.  Overall New Hanover County still has a 13 month supply of homes, and we should see an increase in inventory over the next few months.  Of course the higher the price point, the longer the wait to sell - $1M and above has a little over 4 years supply.

 

Wrightsville Beach is off to a decent start with 5 sales so far in 2011.   There are currently 2 properties under contract.  With 162 properties for sale, there’s almost 3 years of inventory.  There were only 3 properties sold by this time last year, and we’ve almost doubled that.  More is always better. 

Landfall has had 3 sales so far in 2011 (compared to 5 this time last year).  There are 3 properties under contract currently, with 108 listed for sale.  Based the last 12 months of sales, there’s a 1.5 year supply of homes for sale currently.

Porters Neck Plantation has a little 9 month supply of homes, which is very good.

Lots in Wilmington are definitely moving slower than homes.  There are 687 lots For Sale, 10 Pending Sales, and we’ve had 6 Sales so far this year, so there’s quite a supply of lots for sale in Wilmington.

Carolina/Kure Beaches have 416 properties for sale, 19 pending, and have a little over 1 year supply.  Their low prices have really helped reduce inventory levels significantly.

 

Foreclosures & Short Sales are still playing a factor in pricing, and there will continue to be more foreclosures.  Nationally, banks have only released 30% of properties they own.  If banks were to release all of the bank-owned properties, they would flood the market  & home prices would plummet.

 

Nationally, it’s expected we’ll see an 8% price reduction by mid-2011.  While 2010 & 2009 were challenging, 2011 will be full of opportunities for buyers.  We should see inventory start to decrease – pending sales are increasing steadily.  The goal is to get back to a normalized market.  We have a ways to go, but we’re getting there.  While 2011 won’t be “easy”, it should be “easier”.

 

Interest rates are creeping back up, and are expected to rise this year, but are still under 5% for 30 year fixed under $417,000.