http://katiemooreteam.com/blog/categoryname_southeastern-nc/sort_entrydatetime-desc/ For the past year, Sandy Thorpe and Andy Hewitt have watched their vision for the Soda Pop District progress from their offices on Princess Street.  After ushering in the successful start to Hi-Wire Brewing and Cugino Forno, more is in the works with Raleigh-based Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard renovating the space next door. The partners are also unveiling Bottle Works this week in the former Coca-Cola bottling facility at 921 Princess St. With tenants like Beach & Barn and Craftspace taking up large sections, and businesses like the local Pomona Shrub Company in some of the new retail spots, they're 70% occupied.Next, there's the possibility of a grocery store, a sandwich shop, maybe a speakeasy bar -- and a restaurant space they say would anchor the development.“Have you ever been to Leon’s in Charleston?,” Thorpe asked. “Put it on your list.” The relaxed restaurant that serves oysters, Southern-style seafood and fried chicken in a former South Carolina body shop is exactly the kind of eatery they'd like to see here.“This is my favorite space here,” Thorpe said. It dates to the 1920s, has lots of natural, indirect light, and some cool features -- like pipes that used to help fill soda bottles.They’ve been talking to possible restaurant partners but haven't found the right fit.“Initially, we did not foresee much retail/respace,” Hewitt said. "But there’s been a demand for it."“So, we’ve been adaptive,” Thorpe said.It was always a big project and will be bigger. They eventually want to add a patio and build a new building behind Bowstring. (Although the business is focuses on pizza in Raleigh, the Wilmington space will serve burgers and comfort food, and drinks from what they say will be the area's biggest bar.)More buildings, and plans for multi-family housing, are in the works, too, they said.Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at aballard@gannett.com. http://katiemooreteam.com/blog/3968/with-renovation-food-and-retail-scene-in-wilmington’s-soda-pop-district-takes-shape/ Wed, 30 Nov 2022 01:04:36 -0500 The US housing market has had a white hot year. Home sales are on track to reach the highest level in 15 years, with an estimated 6 million homes sold in 2021.But whether you benefited from this surge depended a lot on if you were selling a home or buying one.Homeowners saw average home prices skyrocket nearly 20% through the third quarter compared to a year ago, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It was the largest annual home price increase in the history of the agency's House Price Index. And, in some hot markets, the price increase was double that.America's 10 most expensive zip codes have median home prices over $4 millionHomes also sold at a record pace, with sellers often fielding multiple competing bids and all-cash offers. Even homes that were disgusting or burned out sold quickly, and at amounts that were well over the asking price. For buyers, it was a different story. While mortgage rates kicked off the year at record lows, it was difficult to even find a home to buy. Inventory of available homes reached an all-time low early in the year and competition was extremely stiff.Many prospective buyers left the market dejected and without a home to call their own. As a result, demand for rentals surged and rents went up across the country.Enter your email to subscribe to the CNN Business Newsletter.close dialogBEFORE MARKETS OPENSTART YOUR DAY SMARTGet essential news and analysis on global markets with CNN Business’ daily newsletter.Sign Me UpNo ThanksBy subscribing you agree to ourprivacy policy."It was an insane year," said Matt Holm, an agent with Compass in Austin. Last January, he put a smaller five-year-old home on the market at $425,000, higher than comparable sale prices, and was flooded with offers. "I stopped counting at 35 offers," he said. The home sold for $545,000, a 30% increase over the list price.Another buyer, who bought a lakefront luxury home for $6 million in 2020, was offered $9 million a few months later and $11 million two months after that by buyers desperate for a lakefront property, Holm said."My sellers said, that's a lot of money," Holm said. "They wanted to sell and get something as good or better. But they realized they shouldn't sell because to get something a little bit nicer than what they had was going to cost $18 to $20 million. That is a remarkable jump for a calendar year."Without a doubt, the housing market was on a wild ride in 2021. Here's what to expect as we head into the new year.No more record low mortgage ratesThe year began with the lowest interest rates on record, with average rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.65%. But they didn't last long. By April 1, that had reached a 2021 peak of 3.18%. Rates have fluctuated since, with the 30-year fixed at 3.05% last week, according to Freddie Mac. And we can expect rates to move even higher in the new year.How much house can I afford?The Federal Reserve has given several signals that its pandemic monetary policy will come to an end as it works to curb inflation. Ultimately, that will push interest rates higher.The Fed's revised policy won't put a dent in the pockets of people looking to purchase a home within the next few months, but they might want to act soon, said Melissa Cohn, the regional vice president and executive mortgage banker of William Raveis Mortgage."Mortgage rates should remain range bound around 3% through the end of the year and hopefully through the first two months of 2022," said Cohn, who anticipates rates to increase by up to a half a percentage point over the next couple of months.Similarly, Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, expects the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to increase to 3.7% by the end of next year, but noted this will still be lower than the pre-pandemic rate of around 4%."Increased mortgage rates, coupled with inflation eating away at savings, will take a toll on buyers," said Allison Salzer, a Compass agent in San Francisco. "It will affect the lower-priced and median-priced home purchasers more than the luxury buyers."Inventory will remain tightEven though more properties became available as the spring home buying season heated up this year, there were also more people looking to buy, creating fierce competition and pushing prices skyward.There were so few homes, people were taking extreme measures like offering to buy the seller's next home for them, giving thousands of dollars to competing buyers to walk away and paying as much as $1 million over the home's asking price. One home in Maryland received 7 all-cash offers.Inventory was tightest at the lower end of the market. Homes priced under $200,000 have been hard to come by, with the number of available properties falling 19% this year compared to last year, while there was a 40% annual increase for homes above $600,000, according to HouseCanary, a real estate data company.While the inventory picture is expected to improve in 2022, it isn't expected to perk up by much. Inventory will remain limited and grow by only 0.3% in 2022, according to a Realtor.com forecast."The greatest factor I see affecting the 2022 housing market is the low inventory," said Paulo Prietto, a Compass agent in Orange County, California. "While inventory remains low, buyers will become more accustomed to the lack of choices and will continue to aggressively compete to purchase homes."As long as that happens, prices will continue to go up.Home prices will keep risingHome prices rose nearly everywhere in the country in 2021.While existing home sales reached a median price of $353,900 by November, up 13.9% from a year ago, new construction home prices were even higher. New construction homes hit a median price of $416,900 in November, according to the US Census Bureau, about 19% higher than a year ago, and another new record.While we won't see the double-digit gains that were made in the past year, prices are expected to keep rising in 2022 at a slightly more moderate pace.A group of 20 top economic and housing experts brought together by the National Association of Realtors projected that median home prices will increase by 5.7% next year. The NAR survey participants said they expect the housing market and broader economy to normalize next year as the Fed tries to tame inflation."Slowing price growth will partly be the consequence of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve," Yun said.First-time buyers will continue to face challengesThe prevalence of all-cash offers, few available homes and skyrocketing prices pushed many first-time buyers out of the market in 2021.By the end of November the share of first-time buyers had fallen to 26% from 32% a year before, the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors began tracking in 2008."We are creating a divided society," said Yun. "People don't feel like they are participating in what they consider to be American life through homeownership. All their work to build up savings can feel less meaningful in the face of rising prices."Soaring home prices pushed the share of first-time buyers to historic lowsNot only were prices rising faster than people could save for a down payment, many mortgage types favored by new homebuyers, like FHA and VA loans, were often passed over for all-cash deals or conventional loans.The inventory of homes at the lower end of the price range was so tight that the number of sales priced between $100,000 and $250,000 were down by nearly 20% in November, according to NAR.And while new construction homes are now starting to come on line, most are priced outside of the typical first-time homebuyer's budget."Builders are focusing more on high-priced houses, with the percent sold for under $300,000 falling to just 14% from 33% a year ago," said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.But many hopeful homebuyers are saying they will be back in the spring, armed with the knowledge they gained from a frustrated search this past year, according to a recent survey from Realtor.com"Despite a challenging year, aspiring first-time homebuyers are surprisingly optimistic about 2022," said George Ratiu, Realtor.com's manager of economic research. "They're looking at the new year as a fresh opportunity to make their dreams of owning a home come true."Inman http://katiemooreteam.com/blog/3799/the-housing-market-was-on-a-wild-ride-this-year-here's-what-to-expect-in-2022/ Tue, 28 Dec 2021 08:22:55 -0500 LELAND, N.C. (WECT) - Leland is arguably one of the fastest-growing communities in the Cape Fear. You may be wondering what’s bringing all these people to the once-quiet town.Retirees say there are many reasons from friendly faces to less pressure on their wallets after leaving the workforce. The cheaper housing is only the tip of the iceberg when you tally up the savings, but there are other things attracting retirees to Leland.“Philadelphia — you look around and people just put their heads down because... You’re kind of afraid of everybody, you know, or you don’t know how they’re going to react,” said Donna Udry, who moved here in 2017.A friendly atmosphere checked off only one box on a list of must-haves for Udry and her husband. Once they found out about Leland’s low property tax rate, that just made retirement even better.“That was a big thing because now we’re living on a fixed income,” said Udry.It’s a factor that has sealed the deal for a lot of retirees. One woman from Long Island says she found the perfect house in a small neighborhood here. It offers more square footage and a bigger yard than she had when she lived in New York, giving her more bang for her buck.“[The same house] would have been at least twice as much,” said Barbara Baumgarten.Baumgarten moved here less than two months ago and, like many others, came from a more populated area up north.“The taxes I pay a year here are pretty much what you’d pay per month in New York on Long Island,” said Baumgarten. “You just can’t beat that, especially at this point. I’m trying to enjoy life a little bit more. I really don’t want to spend most of my money on taxes.”While Leland isn’t Boston or Philadelphia, city officials say it still provides entertainment and a relaxing atmosphere for retirees.“The proximities to downtown Wilmington and its features, including concert venues and theaters and arts and fine dining, its proximity to the beaches,” said Leland’s economic and development director Gary Vidmar. “It’s just a whole quality of life that we have to offer.”While the beach or fine dining is great, retirees say the low taxes is a major selling point. A recent study found Leland is the ninth best place in the state to retire to because of its lower taxes.Vidmar says over the last decade, the town has seen about a 70 percent increase in population, according to the 2020 census.Copyright 2021 WECT. All rights reserved. http://katiemooreteam.com/blog/3782/leland-named-ninth-best-place-to-retire-in-north-carolina/ Wed, 01 Dec 2021 06:26:19 -0500 Coming Soon! Wrightsville Beach Farmers' MarketStock up on Fresh Produce, Delicious Eats, Tasty Beverages and Great Crafts! http://katiemooreteam.com/blog/3685/coming-soon!-wrightsville-beach-farmers'-market/ Wed, 05 May 2021 12:08:45 -0500 The pandemic’s impact on how buyers today define luxury has spurred new trends and called attention to different markets moving deeper into 2021, according to Coldwell Banker’s “The Report: 2021 Global Luxury Market Insights,” released on Wednesday.In compiling “The Report,” Coldwell Banker partnered with The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, Wealth-X and other third-party data sources to analyze a variety of data points like median list prices of sold properties, median sold prices, median days on market and more. The company also spoke with 78 Coldwell Banker luxury property specialists across 65 global markets for on-the-ground market insights.The Realogy brand’s report outlines how buyers’ reinterpretation of luxury as a place for family, health, space, security, privacy and accessibility to the outdoors has spurred a drive for properties like megamansions, luxury compounds and even private islands.In fact, more than half of luxury property specialists surveyed by the brand reported that square footage was the no. 1 amenity for buyers, reversing a “less is more” trend seen in recent years. Sales for homes over 5,000 square feet rose 17 percent from 2019 to 2020.Other top luxury preferences that Coldwell Banker saw emerge in the last year include home offices, second homes and a preference for single-family detached homes. Meanwhile, the company also saw many markets transition from buyer or balanced markets to seller markets in 2020, a trend expected to continue in 2021. “Trailblazers,” a new luxury demographic the company recently identified, also helped spur buyer traffic away from cities toward places like hidden-gem towns and the suburbs." style="max-width: 100%; display: block !important;" />Jade Mills | Credit: Coldwell Banker“2020 was a transformative [year] for the luxury real estate market,” Jade Mills, president of Jade Mills Estates and International Ambassador of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, said in a statement. “We saw record-low interest rates paired with demand at an all-time high for single-family homes, resulting in extremely low inventory levels and multiple bidding wars across several luxury markets. The emergence of a new affluent demographic and type of homebuyer fueled this growth driven by shifting lifestyle preferences.”“Many of the trends we saw at the forefront in 2020 will continue to evolve in the years to come,” she added.In 2020, four new regions emerged in the top 10 luxury market performers:King County, Washington: This market, home to Seattle, Bellevue, and surrounding areas, saw a perfect combination of pent-up buyer demand, limited inventory and prime locations for buyers seeking more space. The combined single-family and attached homes sales ratio in 2020, or percentage of available listings that sold, for this market was 37.7 percent.East Bay, California: As buyers shifted to working remotely, this market outside of dense, pricey San Francisco picked up speed for both single-family and attached-home sales. In response, the sales ratio increased over 100 percent after July, resulting in a 67.7 percent sales ratio for the year.Colorado Springs, Colorado: Millennials and out-of-state buyers flocked to this mountain town during the pandemic, yielding its strong combined sales ratio of 36.35 percent for single-family and attached homes.Fairfax, Virginia: This Washington, D.C. suburb saw a surge in demand for luxury townhomes, leaving just a month of inventory for those priced at $645,000 or up, and less than a month for those priced at $1 million and up. The combined sales ratio for single-family and attached homes in 2020 was 24.3 percent, and nearly 52 percent for attached homes alone.As for secondary markets on the rise, Coldwell Banker identified Phoenix, Denver and Dallas as ones to watch in 2021. All three markets saw an influx of out-of-state buyers during the pandemic as work-from-home policies became more prevalent and buyers looked for more spacious, affordable cities to live in.California was a big feeder market for all three of these cities, but Denver and Phoenix actually saw many luxury buyers migrate in from Texas as well (among other places)." style="max-width: 100%; display: block !important;" />John Ryan | Credit: LinkedInMeanwhile, surprise markets that exceeded the company’s expectations for 2020 included Salt Lake City, Sacramento and St. Louis, all of which benefited from buyers exiting other nearby congested, pricey cities as their priorities shifted during the pandemic.“COVID-19 is definitely a big impetus for the recent strength [in St. Louis],” John Ryan, a Coldwell Banker Realty-Gundaker Agent, said in the report. “After being cooped up in quarantine, people definitely had the urge to upgrade into living situations with more space and amenities.”" style="max-width: 100%; display: block !important;" />Craig Hogan | Credit: Coldwell Banker“The luxury real estate market showed its resilience through a dynamic year as the market accelerated many ongoing trends that were already occurring,” Coldwell Banker’s Vice President of Luxury Craig Hogan said in a statement. “With these timely perspectives, our luxury property specialists can prepare for what’s to come in 2021 and continue to act as trusted advisors as many shifting buyer trends and preferences are here to stay.”www.katiemooreteam.com | 910-297-3093 http://katiemooreteam.com/blog/2831/bigger-is-better:-square-footage-is-the-no-1-amenity-for-luxury-buyers/ Wed, 03 Mar 2021 08:02:20 -0500