
{"id":17415,"date":"2011-04-14T09:39:38","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T13:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=17415"},"modified":"2011-04-15T09:45:30","modified_gmt":"2011-04-15T13:45:30","slug":"housing-market-returns-slowly-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/04\/14\/housing-market-returns-slowly-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing market returns slowly, changed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Kirk Ross<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Among the many rites of spring, nesting is among the most common. Humans are little different than their winged counterparts in that respect \u00e2\u20ac\u201c except in the past few recession-rattled years, when the season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s traditional boost in home-buying has been lackluster.<br \/>\nThis year, there are indications that some of the drags on the market here are easing, and, with that, an increase in activity is apparent.<br \/>\nThe Durham-Chapel Hill metro area was recently listed by Builder magazine as the third-healthiest real estate market in the country, behind Austin and Raleigh-Cary. The article notes last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 3 percent growth in home values \u00e2\u20ac\u201c while the Triangle as a whole took a dip \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and cites a prediction by Moody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for a 70 percent increase in building permits for new homes in 2011.<br \/>\nThe sense among many is that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pickup in activity. But in looking at what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s moving and why, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also little doubt that the Great Recession has reshaped the marketplace.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People are getting extremely realistic and practical,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Pat Neagle, president of the Greater Chapel Hill Association of Realtors, said in a recent interview. Buyers, she said, are less inclined to want as much house as possible.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re more interested in living within their means or even a little below their means,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Neagle said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a smart approach. People are stepping back and realizing what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important in life.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nFor Weaver Street Realty\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Gary Phillips, a healthy measure of realism is helping the market recover. This spring the increase in interest is noticeable, he said, but overall it still looks like a recessionary market.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That means the very best continues to attract interest,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Phillips said, but not the large, multi-bedroom homes that used to drive the market. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The McMansion is dead,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, adding that new construction and spec housing for large homes is still way down and likely to stay there as builders work through their inventory.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The only things being built are small, tight and green,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<br \/>\nThe new market also has made sellers much more willing to negotiate.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People need to know that the asking price is no longer the end-all-be-all.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nBoth Neagle and Phillips said the credit market is dictating buyer behavior.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to buy, you need a good down payment and a good credit score,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Phillips said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a very constrained environment. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had to \u00e2\u20ac\u2122rassel about every bank to closing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nNeagle said getting your ducks in a row ahead of time is key.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Given what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more important than ever for a buyer to get pre-qualified.<br \/>\nIf you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re thinking about selling your home, the new lay of the land has brought some changes there as well.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Realtors are drilling in the idea that there is so much competition,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Neagle said. That means properties have to be in good shape, not just clean and presentable.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You want your property to stand out, so do the work ahead of time and prepare it. People are looking for homes that are move-in ready.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year, there are indications that some of the drags on the market here are easing, and, with that, an increase in activity is apparent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17416,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17415\/revisions\/17416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}