Carolina Performing Arts presents the Overtone Quartet, February 10, 2012 at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill, NC. The performance will begin at 8 p.m. Grammy-winning bassist Dave Holland will join the Overtone Quartet – known as the next generation of masters – featuring Jason Moran, experimental pianist and composer, Chris Potter and Eric... [Continue Reading]
Chapel Hill Transit Plans at a Crossroads Chapel Hill transit plans are the subject of a disagreement. A dispute over two points on the light-rail connection between Durham and Chapel Hill led to meetings between the County Commissioners and the City Council. An agreement was reached allowing officials from Orange and Durham counties to send... [Continue Reading]
Top 7 Selling Features of Chapel Hill Homes For Sale What do you think interests prospective buyers who are looking at Chapel Hill homes for sale? What are the features that will make them more apt to buy a home? Here are some of the most popular features that should be addressed when readying Chapel... [Continue Reading]
Chapel Hill Realtor’s Pick of the Month – 109 Ledge Lane ~ Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Realtor, Christine Khoury has chosen 109 Ledge Lane as the property of the month. It is not difficult to see why the Villa on Ledge Lane was chosen. As an American interpretation of a Tuscan villa, this property is... [Continue Reading]
Q & A Chapel Hill Home Office Deductions Is your Chapel Hill home also your office? Today many people are finding it convenient to work from their homes. It reduces the cost of commuting and with the widespread use of computers jobs that once required going to an office can now be accomplished at home.... [Continue Reading]
Chapel Hill Realtor’s Home Energy Savings Tips – Winter Edition Christine Khoury, your Chapel Hill Realtor, has some energy saving tips for residents. She recommends updating old fireplaces within the home with energy-efficient wood burning fireplaces. According to Christine, the old fireplaces allow a great deal of heat to escape through the chimney. If you... [Continue Reading]
Best Chapel Hill Neighborhoods – Meadowmont The Chapel Hill neighborhoods, Meadowmont community is named after a Georgian Revival estate, a 20,000 square-foot home built in 1933 by the DuBose family. Unlike many neighborhoods today, this community is evocative of the Chapel Hill of days gone by with trees, attractive homes and low stone walls adding... [Continue Reading]
Mistakes made when Selling Properties in Chapel Hill When selling properties in Chapel Hill, homeowners need to consider a few factors. The best way to ensure the properties will sell and not sit on the market for a long time is to do your homework before listing the home. Mistakes that are made can be... [Continue Reading]
How To Turn Your Lowered Chapel Hill Home Value Into Tax Relief Is your Chapel Hill home over-assessed resulting in more taxes being paid? Although homes often are, you should be careful about challenging an assessment because it could be decided that it is actually too low. This would result in an increase in your... [Continue Reading]
Is a Chapel Hill Home Purchase in the Cards? Take the Test Are you ready to take advantage of low interest rates and buy a Chapel Hill home? There are many from which to choose currently as well. In addition to the availability of affordable homes when compared to median incomes, this may be a... [Continue Reading]
Pending home sales activity surged as buyers took advantage of low home prices and affordable interest rates, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
REALTORS®.
The Pending Home Sales Index,a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August, jumped 7.4 percent to 93.4 from an upwardly revised reading of 87.0 in July, and is 8.8 percent higher than August 2007 when it stood at 85.8. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it stood at 101.4.
Improved Affordability
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says home buyers were responding to improved affordability. “What we’re seeing is the momentum of people taking advantage of low home prices, with pending home sales up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island, and the Washington, D.C., region,” he says.
“The improvement also reflects the drop in mortgage interest rates after the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. It’s unclear how much contract activity may be impacted by the credit disruptions on Wall Street, but we’re hopeful most of the increase will translate into closed existing-home sales", adds Yun.
The PHSI in the West surged 18.4 percent to 109.5 in August and remains 37.8 percent above a year ago. In the Northeast the index jumped 8.4 percent to 79.8 and is 2.0 percent higher than August 2007. The index in the Midwest rose 3.6 percent to 84.5 in August and is 6.6 percent above a year ago. In the South, the index increased 2.3 percent to 96.0 but is 2.1 percent below August 2007.
Yun notes the unusual timing of contract activity in August. “Home buyers in July were hampered by overly stringent lending criteria in the months before the government takeover of Fannie and Freddie,” he said. “August shows some unleashing of pent-up demand before the credit crisis accelerated in September.”
He cautioned that the sampling size for pending home sales is smaller than the track on existing-home sales, so there is more volatility in the forward-looking series. “We need to see just how much of this gain holds up,” Yun adds.
NAR President Richard F. Gaylord says despite all the turmoil in world financial markets, home mortgages are available. “The recently enacted economic stimulus package should help housing by gradually freeing the flow of credit," he says.
Yun now expects growth in the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) to contract for two consecutive quarters, in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2009, before expanding in latter part of 2009 as the housing market begins a steady improvement.
Existing-home sales projected to rise next year
Looking at middle-ground assumptions, existing-home sales are forecast at 5.04 million this year and 5.41 million in 2009. Following national declines of 5 to 8 percent in 2008, home prices are projected to increase 2 to 3 percent next year.
New-home sales should total around 503,000 this year and 471,000 in 2009. Housing starts, including multifamily units, are likely to fall 28.2 percent to 973,000 units this year, and come in around 843,000 in 2009 as builders continue to clear the accumulation in inventory.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will probably average 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter and rise gradually to 6.6 percent by the end of 2009. NAR’s housing affordability index is expected to average 18 percentage points higher this year than in 2007.
The unemployment rate is projected to average 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter and then average 6.6 percent in 2009. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is estimated at 4.0 percent for 2008 and 2.0 percent next year. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is forecast to grow 1.7 percent this year and 1.0 percent in 2009.
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Carolina Performing Arts presents the Overtone Quartet, February 10, 2012 at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill, NC. The performance will begin at 8 p.m. Grammy-winning bassist Dave Holland will join the Overtone Quartet – known as the next generation of masters – featuring Jason Moran, experimental pianist and composer, Chris Potter and Eric... [Continue Reading]
Chapel Hill Transit Plans at a Crossroads Chapel Hill transit plans are the subject of a disagreement. A dispute over two points on the light-rail connection between Durham and Chapel Hill led to meetings between the County Commissioners and the City Council. An agreement was reached allowing officials from Orange and Durham counties to send... [Continue Reading]
Top 7 Selling Features of Chapel Hill Homes For Sale What do you think interests prospective buyers who are looking at Chapel Hill homes for sale? What are the features that will make them more apt to buy a home? Here are some of the most popular features that should be addressed when readying Chapel... [Continue Reading]
