Ken Keegan's Blog :: St. James Plantation: June 2013

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Monday, June 10, 2013

Pending Home Sales Edge Up in April

Pending home sales improved slightly in April and continue to be well above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Gains in the Northeast and Midwest were offset largely by declines in the West and South. The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 0.3 percent to 106.0 in April from 105.7 in March, and is 10.3 percent above April 2012 when it was 96.1; the data reflect contracts but not closings. Home contract activity is at the highest level since the index hit 110.9 in April 2010, immediately before the deadline for the home buyer tax credit. Pending sales have been above year-ago levels for the past 24 months. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a familiar pattern has developed. “The housing market continues to squeak out gains from already very positive conditions. Pending contracts so far this year easily correspond to higher closed home sales in 2013,” he said. Total existing-home sales are expected to rise just over 7 percent to about 5 million this year. “Because of inventory shortages, higher home sales will push up home values to the highest level in five years,” Yun said. The national median existing-home price should increase close to 8 percent and exceed $190,000 in 2013. The PHSI in the Northeast jumped 11.5 percent to 92.3 in April and is 17.7 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index rose 3.2 percent to 107.1 in April and is 15.1 percent higher than April 2012. Pending home sales in the South slipped 1.1 percent to an index of 119.2 in April but are 12.3 percent above a year ago. With pronounced inventory constraints, the index in the West fell 7.6 percent in April to 94.6 and is 2.6 percent below April 2012. The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. For additional commentary and consumer information, visit www.houselogic.com and http://retradio.com. # # # *The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population. NOTE: Existing-home sales for May will be reported June 20 and the next Pending Home Sales Index will be on June 27; release times are 10:00 a.m. EDT. Article from National Association of Realtors Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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First-ever Fort Caswell historical excavation is under way

Although in its early stages, the first archeological investigation of Fort Caswell is already yielding clues about the past of this former outpost, originally built to shore-up America’s coastal defenses following the War of 1812. The archeological field school from William Peace University has taken on the site for a month-long dig, in cooperation with the owner, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. The N.C. Baptist Assembly runs camps, retreats and programs from a complex of modern structures scattered between remains of the old fortress and batteries dating back to 1827. While Fort Caswell saw little in the way of major action, it played a role in the Spanish-American War, Civil War, World War I and World War II. The Confederate army seized the fort during the Civil War and destroyed part of it toward the end of the conflict. It was used for training and U-boat searches during World War I. Fort Caswell was a naval patrol, communications and submarine tracking center during World War II. While it is a highly visible part of the landscape of the lower Cape Fear, the fort’s distant past has never before been probed. (Some articles from The State Port Pilot newspaper are used on the stateportpilot.com website, but represent only a portion of material that is included in the print edition and e-Pilot online, both of which are available by subscription through this website.) “There has been no scientific, archeological research done on this fort or the batteries,” said Thomas Beamon, anthropology instructor at Wake Technical Community College. Beaman and William Peace University anthropology assistant professor Vincent Melomo are co-directors of the investigation. The team is investigating the site as part of the Baptist State Convention’s effort to have it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The goals include documenting the cross-shaped citadel that makes the fort architecturally unique. The 100-by-40-foot structure was burned when Confederates abandoned the fort in 1865, but how or why the rest of the structure fell is unknown. Researchers hope to define some of the missing corners of the fort and probe another unique feature—both wet and dry moats. Another interesting feature attributed to the fort was that it had some sort of plumbing system that ran from the citadel to outside the original walls. The team hopes that its work also will reveal more about what daily life was like for the men who endured isolation, heat, insects, disease and the constant threat of death. “This is the only opportunity we’re going to have to really look and see what we can find from the old fort,” said Jim McKee, a Southport resident and historian at Brunswick Town/Ft. Anderson State Historic Site. “It’s a great mystery, and there are still people alive who were stationed there.” The work is slow and methodical. Grids marked by lines place every artifact, and the pieces are all collected gently by hand, inch by inch. Some members dig while others haul soil, and still others work sifters and sort the findings. McKee said it’s possible the investigation will also include sweeps with metal detectors. Beamon said the crew had located a corner of the original citadel, a promising find. They will keep digging until they hit the living surface where soldiers worked, and continue into the undisturbed subsoil. So far they have found buttons, glass, nails, an original fireplace, grape shot (fired from a cannon), spikes and a woman’s brooch. Beamon described the work as like unwrapping a puzzle “piece by piece.” Once all the artifacts are washed and cataloged, they will be returned to the assembly. “Tom and I are immensely grateful for the opportunity to work on this important and fascinating historic site,” Melomo said. “The field school has been a great success so far, and we are looking forward to more exciting finds as we continue to uncover the past and hopefully explore the Civil War-era layers over the next two weeks.” Article From State Port Pilot Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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Saturday, June 1, 2013

Foreclosure sales fall to lowest level since 2008

Sales of bank-owned properties last quarter hit their lowest level since early 2008, according to a new report. There were 101,371 distressed sales during the first quarter of 2013, RealtyTrac said Thursday. That accounted for 21% of the total market, down from 25% a year earlier. During the height of the foreclosure crisis in early 2009, 45% of all homes sold nationally were foreclosures. In many locations, such as California's Central Valley, foreclosures weren't just a big share of the housing market, they were the entire the housing market. Related: Best deals on real estate The most striking trend in distressed property sales now is the decline in short sales, according to RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist. These are deals on homes that are worth less than what sellers owe to the bank. Banks okay the sales to prevent the home from going through the costly foreclosure process, and forgive the unpaid debts. Nationally, short sales fell 35% in the first quarter, compared with 12 months earlier. "The decrease in short sales was a bit of surprise given that 11 million homeowners nationwide still owe more on their homes than they're worth," said Blomquist. "Rising home prices are taking away the incentive for short sales on the part of both homeowners and lenders." Related: 5 best markets to sell a home As home prices rise, underwater borrowers are tempted to hold onto their properties with the hope of selling at the price they paid. That way, they won't take a big hit to their credit score for failing to fully repay their loans. Lenders are also less inclined to approve short sales, because even the prices of bank-owned houses are going up. The average foreclosure price rose 28% during the first three months of 2013, and that's given lenders more leeway to deny low-ball short sales. If a short sale doesn't work out, the banks aren't necessarily going to lose more money on a foreclosure, Blomquist explained. Related: 10 big, booming cities Distressed properties still account for a high percentage of sales in some places. In Georgia, 35% of sales were foreclosure related in the first quarter, the highest percentage of any state. In Illinois, 32% of sales were bank-owned, while in California foreclosures made up 30% of sales. On the other hand, distressed sales made up less than 7% of the market in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts and New York. Distressed property sales will continue to shrink as fewer homeowners fall behind on their mortgages. Lenders repossessed fewer than 35,000 homes in April, a third of the number of foreclosures repossessed during September 2010. Original Article From CNN Real Estate Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker

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