The third quarter sales report for New Home Construction from the Triangle Multiple Listing Service (TMLS) has recently become available.

It is important to note that data on closed new home sales are based upon subdivisions in the Triangle market and includes only new home housing listed in Triangle Multiple Listing Service (TMLS). In addition, not all subdivisions or builders list their homes (or all their homes) in the TMLS so these numbers should just serve as an indicator.

Supply

At the end of the 3^rd quarter there were 4,918 new home listings which was an increase of 20% compared to 2006 new home inventory levels. The average list price of a new home is currently $381,500. This is a 7% increase from the average list price in 10/06.

Sales

The first three quarters of 2007 showed a 6.9% decrease in sales of new homes in the four county markets. However, sales for all four counties were 1.2% above 2005 levels.

Durham County showed a 4.1% increase in sales for this time period, while the other three counties declined.

There were 6,481 closed sales of new homes in the four county markets during the first nine months. This is a decrease of 6% compared to the 6,960 closed sales during the first nine months of 2006.

Current Supply

The current supply of new homes within the four main counties is 7 months. The current supply at the end of September, 2006 was 5 months.

All information in this report is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.

The Poling Team – Keller Williams Realty

Monday of this week updated tax values were placed on-line on the Wake County Register of Deeds website. Mailings went out to 312,000 property owners and Wake Count Officials expect about 10% of the property values will be appealed.

In North Carolina, property values are re-evaluated every 8 years, but the tax rate can be adjusted every year. The last revaluation was done in 2000 and under the new revaluation; home values will increase an average of 43%.

Durham County also sent out letters with the new property values to 97,000 property owners and so far about 400 people have made appointments for an informal review according to the News and Observer.

The Poling Team’s home in Knightdale, NC was valued at $198,529. The letter we received this week says that our Knightdale home is now valued at $258,981. That’s a 30.5% increase. It’s amazing how much difference a day makes.

You can read the full News and Observer article here: Wake Property Value Notices Go Out
 

The General Assembly gave the counties the right to ask voters to add a home tax as a part of the budget approval process this year. Wake and Durham counties do not have this issue on the ballot, but a total of sixteen counties will ask for either a 1/4 percent sales tax increase or an additional .4% tax on real property sales.

So what is this transfer tax? It is tax you will pay anytime you sell your home, your land or your business. This tax is in addition to the yearly property taxes. It is paid by the seller every time a home is sold.

In my opinion, this is not a good proposal. It makes housing less affordable and it hurts our state’s homeowners by arbitrarily singling them out to pay for more than their share.

In addition, county commissioners can spend the tax revenues on whatever they want – there are no strings attached.

The Poling Team recommends Johnson and Chatham county voters vote NO on the November 6 ballot.

In the last several blogs, I reviewed the upcoming bond referenda to help you decide how to vote on October 9. Click on each of the following to read about each bond from past blogs.

Public Libraries  $45 million
Wake Technical College  $92 million
Wake County Open Space  $50 million

I personally believe each of these bonds are important to maintaining the quality of life of our area and will help maintain the value of our Raleigh area homes. I am personally going to vote for each of these bonds and would recommend that you do the same.

If you would like to know your homes present tax value, The Poling Team would be happy to find it for you just click  Contact Us

We would also be happy to provide a free market analysis of your home. Find Your Homes Value

The third of the three bond issues to consider is a $92 million bond for the Wake Technical Community College.

The bond will be used for:

• A new building at the Northern Wake Campus. This building will be used to offer classes in financial services, pervasive computing and information.
• Expand Health Sciences Campus to train more nurses, radiology/MRI technicians and other allied health professionals.
• Renovate Public Safety facility for law enforcement, EMS and fire safety officer training.
• Acquire property and design for a permanent Western Wake Campus.
• Repair and renovate several builings on the Main Wake Community College Campus.

You can read more on the Wake County website: What’s on the ballot

All three bonds will raise your Raleigh, NC homes’ taxes approximately 2.25 cents per $100 of valuation. This is the tax valuation of your home, not the current market value.

If you would like to know your homes present tax value, The Poling Team would be happy to find it for you just click  Contact Us

We would also be happy to provide a free market analysis of your home. Find Your Home’s Value

 

The second of the three bond issues to consider a $45 million bond for the Wake County Libraries.

The Library bonds will be used for:

New branch libraries

• Middle Creek
• Morrisville
• North Hills

Expand or replace existing branch libraries

• Cary
• Fuquay-Varina
• Wake Forest

Repairs and/or renovations:

• East Regional (Knightdale)
• Southeast Regional (Garner)
• Green Road, Olivia Ramey, Richard B. Harrison, Wendell and Zebulon branches.

 

You can read more on the Wake County website: What’s on the ballot

We have lots of helpful local Raleigh, area information on our website: The Poling Team
 

One of the three bond issues to consider is the $50 million bond for additional Wake County Open Space.

The purpose of the Open Space program is to preserve forests, meadows, streams and floodplains, and natural areas suitable for recreational or other public uses in Wake County. One of the major goals is to protect water quality.

Wake County loses about 1.5 acres of undeveloped open space land per hour. This totals about 13,000 acres per year. Since 2000 about 3,548 acres have been preserved.

The bond issue will provide monies to continue to buy and preserve more open space.

You can read more on the Wake County website: What’s on the ballot?

We have lots of helpful local Raleigh, area information on our website: The Poling Team

In the next several blogs, I will review the upcoming bond referenda to help you decide how to vote on October 9.

There are three bond issues to consider.

• Public Libraries  $45 million
• Wake Technical College  $92 million
• Wake County Open Space  $50 million

If all of the issues pass, repaying the bonds and the operating expenses will require a tax increase of 2.25 cents per $100 of valuation.

How will this affect your taxes? If your Wake County home is  valued at $200,000 then your taxes would go up $45 per year.

We have lots of local Raleigh, area information on our website: The Poling Team

According to a 2006 study of home buyers*, first time home buyers most often purchase their home due to a desire to establish their own household. This reason accounted for 74% of first time home buyer purchases.

For repeat home buyers the greatest reported reason for the home purchase was a desire for a larger home – 20% of repeat home buyers. This was followed by relocation or a job related move as the motivation for a repeat home purchase – 16% of repeat home buyers.
 
Whatever your reason to purchase a home may be, the Poling Team can help make the move easier. Contact us to learn how.

*Source: The 2006 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

Yesterday, I discussed a 4th Tip on How to Avoid Foreclosure on your Raleigh, NC Home. Today, I will give three more but first, just to review, here are the first 4 tips on how to avoid foreclosure on your Raleigh, NC home:

1. Don’t ignore the issue
2. As soon as you have a problem paying, give your lender a call..
3. Respond to all mail from your lender.
4. Know Your Rights.

The next tip is to prioritize your spending. Your top priority after your health care should be to keep your home. You may want to consider paying your mortgage payment before paying any other debts.

Number six, don’t be taken in by mortgage scammers. You may run across someone claiming to be able to prevent foreclosure. Don’t sign any document of any kind from them! You should not have to pay large fees  to get assistance avoiding foreclosure on your Raleigh, NC home.

Number seven, contact FHA for help.
Here are some helpful links to contact FHA and to get additional help to avoid foreclosure on your Raleigh, NC Home:

http://www.fha.gov/foreclosure/index.cfm    This page is excellent and it was a major source for these recent Raleigh Residential Real Estate blogs. 
HUD-approved housing counseling agencies – this link will allow you to search by state.
 
For consumer debt advice, contact http://www.debtadvice.org/

As always, if the Poling Team can help in any way, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re also happy to give you a free no obligation market analysis of what your home is currently worth, just click here: What’s My Home’s Value?