By Lewis Beale
Star-News Correspondent
Published: Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7:08 p.m.

Photo by Melissa Williamson

Nomi Shannon's decluttered den after Pam Ives works her magic.

Good afternoon and Happy Father's day!

I thought you might like to be updated periodically about the market conditions in Wilmington. A business associate, David Flory over at Cunningham & Company provided us with the following statistics

"The number of sold homes in May is up 14.7% from last month. Our monthly average sold price is up 15.4% from last month. We have reversed our last three months trend of sold prices in the $230,000 to $240,000 range, notice the dip in the chart for 2008. The last couple of years we have seen a steady monthly average sales price, look at the chart and you can see our brief decline for 2008 in the average sales price with the increase in May."

"From what I have seen for May – our numbers were HOT! An increase in average sales price of 15% over last month and an increase in sold units of 14.7% from last month. Our year over year is ahead by only $1,878 or .07%. I could not agree any stronger that now is the best time to buy. It is a real Buyers Market. We have a few plus factors – Our listing inventory grows as anticipated and the average list price has remained stable. Our absorption rate has 12.2 months of housing supply, but it is going down and actually went down 2 months worth. The amount of sellers paying concessions is 22.1%, we want this number going down and it did go down from last month. Then I look at the factors that are slowing us down. Our average days on the market are 112 days which is typical for a buyers market it went up by 2 days over last month.  Our sold units over last year same month is down by 25.2%. One area I continue to look at is the Pending Inventory, and based on the current numbers I think we will see June’s sold numbers about the same as May’s sold units."

This data was pulled on June 11, 2008. Based on information from the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS Incorporated, for the period Jan. 1, 2005 through May 31, 2008.

 Source: David Flory, Cunningham & Company Mortgage Bankers

If you would like to receive e-mail updates as new homes meeting your search criteria hit the market, you can log onto http://www.findhomesinwilmington.com/ to receive informative daily e-mail updates on homes listed for sale.

Click here For Wilmington relocation information and information on New Home communities.

The USS North Carolina, the Navy's newest nuclear-powered submarine, was commissioned Saturday at a ceremony in Wilmington.

 The sub, built in Virginia, will be the fourth Navy vessel to carry the N.C. name. It will also be the fourth in a new class of submarines designed for warfare after the Cold War, when the primary adversary was the Soviet Union.

The ceremony was at a State Ports dock on the Cape Fear River, just downriver from the World War II battleship USS North Carolina. The battleship, now a major tourist attraction, was the latest Navy vessel named for the state.

Navy Secretary Richard Danzig named the submarine in 2000 after reviewing requests from citizens, veterans and state representatives, according to a Navy spokesman. Construction, done jointly by Northrop Grumman Newport News and General Dynamics Electric Boat, began in October 2001. The sub was lowered into the water for the first time last May.

The crew of about 135 officers and enlisted men officially moved aboard last November. A series of sea trials was completed in February.

The USS North Carolina is 377 feet long and weighs 7,800 tons. The Navy says it cost $2.5 billion. The sub will carry some of the military's newest gadgets. It will be able to attack with missiles, torpedoes and mines, to skulk silently and to snoop or drop off special operations teams.

The Navy says the new class of submarines is needed to meet its missions, though some defense analysts question the need for expensive, sophisticated subs when terrorism is the nation's primary danger.

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy could receive more than $25 million in state incentives to create 900 jobs at its campus near Wilmington, Gov. Mike Easley's office says.

The company, a joint venture of General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Hitachi (NYSE: HIT), already employs more than 2,000 people in New Hanover County. The expansion would add manufacturing, training, simulation and testing facilities at GE-Hitachi's 1,300-acre campus.

Workers in the new jobs will be paid an average of $85,000 a year, plus benefits, Easley's office says. That's more than double the New Hanover County average of $33,226.

Source: Triangle Business Journal

Fact #2: There is still over $23 trillion of value in u.s. housing stock. Home ownership continues to be the basis of our wealth in this country.

Fact #3: The housing market cannot help but grow. Our country’s tremendous wealth, liquidity, and entrepreneurship will continue to drive our economy. 70-100 million people will be added to our market in the next 40 years.

Fact #4: Real estate is cyclical. The biggest fear in good times is that the fair weather won’t last forever—because it doesn’t. But the reality of a cyclical real estate market also provides its brightest hope in bad times—foul weather won’t last forever either. What’s happening today is a market correction, severe in some places, but it’s not the end of the world. As shown by Fact #1, people are still buying and selling homes. The markets will stabilize.

Fact #5: 2008 is the best year to buy a home in 35 years. 1973 was the last time mortgage rates were this low in a buyer’s market. We had rates this low in 2001 and 2002, but those were strong seller’s markets with little inventory. The last two big buyer’s markets, in the early ‘80s and early ‘90s had much higher rates. Low rates and good inventory make 2008 the best year to buy in decades!

Fact #6: First-time buyers have a real advantage in today’s market. First-time buyers can buy at a reduced price without having to sell at one too. Higher limits on lower cost conforming loans also help first-time buyers purchase more home for their money. Today’s ‘starter’ homes can be pretty impressive.

Fact #7: First-time buyers lose money while they wait on the sidelines. First, renters typically pay more state and federal income taxes than homeowners with a mortgage deduction. Renters are also losing the wealth they could be accumulating as they pay down their mortgage and as their home increases in value over time (as it surely will). Lastly, renters who wait to buy will lose money if interest rates increase by the time they finally act. Higher payments from higher interest rates represent money buyers could have kept if they had bought earlier. Conversely, if they were willing to spend that amount of money earlier, they could have bought more home.

Fact #8: Homes sell when they’re priced right and show well. Buyers are looking for value in today’s market. When sellers make their home’s value obvious, they make a sale—it’s as simple as that.

My company, Coldwell Banker SeaCoast Realty, is a Principal Broker with the world's largest relocation network, the CARTUS Corporation.  That means I can help you, your friends, family, business associates, neighbors or other acquaintances - anyone - work with a qualified agent - anywhere!  Agents who work with our relocation offices have received certified training and are among the top producers in their firms, and are highly qualified to assist your referral in finding the right property or listing their property with the best firm possible.

Just share the name and contact information with me and once I have their consent to refer them, I can "introduce" them to an agent in their desired search area.  Our Relocation Department will make all the necessary arrangements.  You can be confident that the person you refer to me will be placed with a "Relocation Expert! Let us help.

Click here For Wilmington relocation information and information on New Home communities.

Although the decline of the real estate industry has been a familiar drumbeat for the past 18 months, at least one major area community is bucking the trend.Brunswick Forest, a 4,500-acre, master-planned residential and retail community set on U.S. Highway 17 six miles south of Historic Downtown Wilmington, has quietly  surged past the $37 million mark in sales just eight months after its grand opening.  Between February 2007, when the development’s Dream Street model homes opened,  and the end of October 2007, 105 homes and homes sites went under contract for a total sales volume of more than $37 million.

That figure excludes the Jefferson Landing section of Brunswick Forest that saw its entire 278-home inventory sell in 2006. In total, more than 380 homes and home sites have sold or are under contract.  Brunswick Forest development officials say the pace is accelerating.

"Despite everything you hear about the terrible housing market, we’ve had great sales," says Brenda Key, president of Brunswick Forest Realty, LLC. "No one else that we
know of seems to be having this kind of success."

Earlier this year Brunswick Forest introduced Dream Street at Parkview, one of the largest, all-new model-home showcases in the coastal South. With the opening of a
spectacular, 14,000-square-foot Welcome Center in September, visitors now have the opportunity to see a complete picture of a community already becoming recognized for its many world-class amenities and distinctive neighborhoods.

At the adjacent Parkview, more than half of the available home sites and home packages are under contract. Like Jefferson Landing, this popular neighborhood features street lights, ponds and sidewalks connecting to miles of leisure trails that will lead to the community amenities, parks, preserves and the shops and offices in The Villages, Brunswick Forest’s commercial center. The average home price at Parkview is $425,000.

Also setting an impressive pace is the recently released Gardenwood, a neighborhood of attractive, all-brick, low-maintenance garden homes starting at $259,500. Twenty-two homes have sold since their release—ten on the first day.

Along with Parkview and Gardenwood, visitors also may select from four Florida-style models at the newly introduced Villamar. These well-appointed homes, decked out with central sunlit kitchens, high ceilings and spacious lanais and porches, run from $398,000 to $498,000. Fifteen have already been sold, moving at a pace of about one home per week.

Just released is Evangeline, a charming neighborhood of 56 coastal Carolina homes and 60 townhomes offering high-end custom-home features, including elegant hardwood flooring, distinctive crown molding and granite countertops. Prices begin at $329,500 for the townhomes and from the high-$500,000s for the coastal home and home site package. Evangeline is a project of Kent Homes, one of the Wilmington area’s leading luxury home builders.

Belshaw was also introduced in the fall of 2007. These low-maintenance homes feature woodland views, fabulous outdoor living spaces and gourmet kitchens at prices from the mid-$300,000s.

Finally, home sites at Walden are moving briskly, with half the first phase under contract in the $165,000 to $225,000 range. These are destined for early buyers who plan to build a custom home at some point in the future and are interested in taking advantage of pre-construction pricing that is still in effect.

"Families are moving in every day," says Brunswick Forest Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Sloan. "We’re seeing people walking their dogs in the neighborhoods and kids riding their bikes on the sidewalks. It’s fast becoming a vibrant, well-established community."

Exactly why the community is doing so well in the early going is a matter of some discussion, although Brunswick Forest officials point to the heavy construction activity, an extensive amenities plan, word-of-mouth from satisfied homeowners, the quality of construction, the extensive depth of financing behind the project and a marketing program that brings in more than 100 visitors a week.

"Interest in Brunswick Forest just keeps building," Key says. "We’re averaging 100 visitors a week and now that the Welcome Center is open, we anticipate even greater numbers."

Designed in the classic Southern coastal architecture of all of Brunswick Forest’s amenity centers, the 14,000-square-foot Welcome Center offers buyers an overview of the community and its extraordinary country club lifestyle. A variety of attractive displays feature photographs, color graphics, site plans and renderings of the neighborhoods and amenities, including the River Club on Town Creek, Community Garden, the Ocean Club, the Wellness/Fitness Center and the 27-hole Cape Fear National now under construction.

The centerpiece of the community, the stunning private golf course is being built against a backdrop of woods, wetlands and creeks offering a game that is both visually rewarding and challenging. Designed by Tim Cate, the first 18 holes, along with the clubhouse, are expected to open in 2009.

More than seven miles of sidewalks have been laid to date. The weight of the concrete required for the job—4,473 tons—is equivalent to the displacement of the Battleship North Carolina when fully loaded. When completed, the community will include more than 100 miles of sidewalks that are part of a remarkable network of trails and pathways running throughout Brunswick Forest.

Also under construction and scheduled to open in the spring is the 18,000-square-foot Wellness/Fitness Center featuring the latest weight-training and cardiovascular machines, along with indoor and outdoor pools, a cutting-edge aerobics room, a sauna, a steam room and whirlpool, massage rooms, dressing lounges, a snack bar and lounge with a media center, six lighted tennis courts and a pro shop.

Work also has begun on several parks, including Lowcountry Park with its meandering lake and expansive meadow. The lake has been dug and the land graded to create a descending series of elevations leading to the meadow. Additionally, an arched pedestrian bridge has been built and native grasses and a variety of specimen trees have been planted along the lake.

Soon, crews will begin work on the Community Garden, featuring a free-standing greenhouse, flower gardens, growing fields and a glass-enclosed meeting room where residents can gather to plan each season’s crops.

Plans are now being finalized for the River Club, Brunswick Forest’s non-motorized boating and fishing center complete with boardwalks and dock, a Nature Center, a screened pavilion, an outdoor fireplace and an observation platform—all overlooking the picturesque Town Creek, a tributary of the Cape Fear River. Construction of the first phase of this facility is expected to begin in 2008.

Early 2008 will also see the start of construction of The Villages at Brunswick Forest on Highway 17 at the entrance to the community. A Lowes Foods supermarket will serve as one of the anchors of the 160-acre town center designed with clusters of retail stores and plazas offering convenient one-stop shopping. Space will be available for a wide range of shops and services. Commitments have already been received from Frank Theatres, CVS, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, BB&T and Hampton Inn.

"We’re moving full speed ahead with the amenities and infrastructure," Sloan says. "What we’re doing here is unique. We’re developing the country club lifestyle up front."

By Tobin Spirer, North Brunsick Magazine Online

For more information click here

Click here For Wilmington relocation information and information on New Home communities.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty has become the dominant agency in Southeastern North Carolina, now celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Having opened shop on Wrightsville Beach, as Wilmington Sea Coast Properties, in a tiny office now occupied by a surf shop, Tim Milam, president, remembers his daily duties as a new agent included “putting up the flag outside in the parking lot.”

Milam, along with his wife, Vicki, and business partners Jim Clark and Jim Teachey, bought what became Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty from his brother in 1996 when it had one office and about 30 agents.

Since then, the company has grown to more than 300 agents in seven offices in New Hanover, Pender, Brunswick and Onslow counties.

Sales success has followed; Sea Coast Realty selling more properties in the Southeastern North Carolina market for the past eight straight years than any other company, and also recording the highest dollar volume of sales for the past two straight years, and three of the past five. But as Milam is fond of saying, “The numbers are great, but what’s more important is treating people the right way.” That attitude has created what is known among his sales associates and staff as “the Sea Coast Family.”

“We really do look after each other, and our people are very generous in supporting charities and other worthy causes in the communities we serve,” he said. “It makes me proud every day to work with such a caring, giving, and supportive group of people.”

It’s also nice to be recognized by local publications such as encore, Milam said, “because we know your readers voted for us because they’ve had good experiences with our company, and that means so much to all of us.—Chip Pearsall

Click here For Wilmington relocation information and information on New Home communities.