It looks like a great weather week this week in the Wilmington area!  Great for outdoor activities, the beach, outdoor concerts and of course looking at Wilmington real estate!    To learn more about Wilmington weather or Wilmington NC real estate contact me at 910-431-9395 or visit my website at www.livingbythecoast.com.

Summertime at the beach is all about sun, sand, waves, seafood and MUSIC!  The FREE Summer Concert Series will be held at the Fort Fisher Military Recreation Area in Kure Beach.  Bring blankets and chairs for the whole family and prepare to boogie the night away.  The concerts will be held at the Fort Fisher Military Recreation Area.  To learn more about the Free Summer Concert Series or Wilmington NC Real Estate contact me at 910-431-9395 or visit my website at www.livingbythecoast.com.

REAL Trends 500

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is among the country’s largest and most successful residential real estate companies named in the recently released 2010 REAL Trends 500 report.  The list is released annually by REAL Trends, Inc., the residential real estate industry’s leading source of analysis and information.

The REAL Trends 500 report ranks the country’s top residential real estate companies by closed transactions and by sales volume.  In 2009, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty closed 2,799 sales, ranking #151 in the list of “The 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S.” ranked by closed transactions.  Sea Coast Realty closed $579,520,735 in sales volume in 2009, ranking #162 in the list of “The 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S.” ranked by sales volume.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty ranked #23 out of more than 1,074 Coldwell Banker affiliated companies in the U.S.  Coldwell Banker was ranked as the country’s #1 real estate franchise again this year, closing more than $128 billion in sales and almost twice as many sales transactions as the next leading real estate franchise. 

Locally, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty performed similarly well.  In 2009, it closed more than twice as many sales as the next leading company.  Sea Coast Realty has claimed the title as southeastern North Carolina’s top selling real estate company for ten years in a row.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is the largest company in the Greater Wilmington area and I am proud to be aligned with them.  For more information regarding Wilmington area real estate contact me at 910-431-9395 or visit my website at www.livingbythecoast.com.

Cape Fear Literacy Council’s Silver Anniversary Gala will be held on Saturday at 6:30pm.  There will be great food, music, dancing, live/silent Auctions and more.  The event will be held at Screen Gem Studios on 23rd Street in Wilmington.  To learn more about the Cape Fear Literacy Council Gala contact me at 910-431-9395 or visit my website at www.livingbythecoast.com.

REALTOR magazine had an article today that had four reasons to sell now.  Here they are:

• Sell low and buy low. Because all property values are down, the loss on the property a home owner sells is really only a paper loss because the next property he buys also will be a bargain. If he buys smartly, when prices come back up in a few years, he’ll be in better shape.
• Down-payment help is widely available. While nothing-down loans have disappeared, it is easy to find down-payment assistance for lower-income and first-time home buyers. Programs vary all over the country, but one good way to find them is to search online for “down-payment assistance programs” and the name of your region.
• Your uncle has money to share. Besides the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and the $6,500 move-up credit, there are an array of energy tax credits that can make home improvements pay off in cash.
• Good help is available. Really talented real estate practitioners, contractors, and designers are available and eager for business.

To learn more about selling your home or Wilmington area real estate contact me at 910-431-9395 or visit my website at www.livingbythecoast.com.

This is an article that was in my NC REALTORS Association blog today that I found interesting regarding foreclosures:

Foreclosure filings increased 14 percent nationally in December from November, the first monthly increase since foreclosure activity peaked in July, according to a RealtyTrac report out today. Foreclosure filings were reported on 349,519 properties in December, which were also 15 percent higher than in December 2008.

North Carolina, however, posted an overall 16.1 percent decline in foreclosure rates in 2009 when compared to the previous year, and was one of only 10 states posting a decline in yearly foreclosure rates while the majority of states worsened.  In the fourth quarter, N.C. posted a 0.2 percent foreclosure rate, the smallest rate among its surrounding states.

To recieve my weekly foreclosure report email me:  Karen@livingbythecoast.com.  To learn more about Wilmington NC real estate visit my website:  www.livingbythecoast.com or give me a call at 910-431-9395.

The Wilmington-area housing market is showing some positive signs!  The number of building permits are on the rise in New Hanover County.  They are still down vs. last year in Brusnwick County but they have been increasing from month to month this year.  William “Woody” Hall, an economist at UNCW stated that “permits are a leading indicator.  A permit is not applied for unless there is evidence that someone will purchase the property.”  The $8000 first time home buyer credit has been one of the factors that has been attributed to the increase in new home permits.  Tim Milam, president of the real estate firm that I work for, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty, was quoted as saying  that “his agency has seen five straight months in which the number of contracts signed has increased from year-earlier levels.  And for three straight months - May, June and July - Coldwell Banker has recorded actual sales that were higher than in the corresponding months of 2008. ”   Also important is the decline of the number of homes that are on the market and the inventories of ready-for-occupancy new-construction homes have decreased.  To learn more about the Wilmington area real estate market contact me at 910-431-9395 or visit my website at www.livingbythecoasst.com.