Real Estate Information Archive

In the last week of July 2010, mortgage rates in the Charlotte area dropped to the lowest level on record. From a financing perspective, buying Charlotte homes now may be the most attractive opportunity in decades for those in the market taking advantage of already low home prices.

Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed loans this week was 4.54%, down from 4.56% just last week. That’s the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.

The last time home loan rates were lower was during the 1950s, when most mortgages lasted just 20 or 25 years.

The rate on the 15-year fixed loan dropped to 4%, down from 4.03% last week and the lowest on record.

Rates have fallen since the spring. Yields on U.S. Treasury bonds have dropped as jittery investors seek safer investments. Mortgage rates tend to track yields on Treasurys.

To research your own situation, use our mortgage tools and read why you should use a local lender for your next transaction. We are here to help!

Work began on more houses nation-wide in April than at any time in over a year while, in the same month, building permit requests went down.

Housing starts rose to a 672,000 annual rate last month, exceeding the median forecast of economists, reaching the highest level since October 2008. Permits fell by the most since December 2008, a sign homebuilding will may pause after a tax-induced jump in sales.

Building permits, which are considered a leading indicator for homebuilding, fell 12% to a 606,000 annual rate last month. Applications for both single-family and multifamily projects decreased.

Starts rose 41 percent in April from the same month last year, the biggest year-over-year gain since 1994, while permits increased 16 percent.

Construction of single-family houses increased 10% to a 593,000 rate in April, while permits fell 11%. Work on multifamily homes, such as townhouses and apartment buildings, dropped 19 percent to an annual rate of 79,000.

Building is climbing after sales jumped following a government incentive of as much as $8,000 helped reduce the number of unsold new houses. Sales of new homes surged in March by the most since 1963, while purchases of existing homes rose for the first time in four months.

The jump in sales brought the number of new houses for sale down to 228,000, the lowest since March 1971, allowing builders more room to begin projects even as they compete with foreclosed homes coming back on the market.

To see new construction home listings in the Charlotte MLS area, go to our Charlotte Home Search website and remember to use the "new construction" radio button on the right.

Charlotte-area home sales experienced the biggest gain of 2010 in the month of April as usual spring buying was aided by the expiring home buyer tax credits.

The 2220 single-family homes and condos sold last month marked an increase of more than 25% compared with April 2009, according to results released by the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association.

That represented seven consecutive months of year-over-year increases and the largest increase since November 2009, when buyers rushed to close before the original expiration date of the tax credits. The credits were then extended until this April 30.

April’s sales also inched above 2003 levels, the first time that’s happened since the downturn walloped the housing market. Still, the number of deals remained below the 2004 count and well off the 2006 peak.

In another upside sign, sales in April posted the biggest jump from March in at least 8 years. That 17% monthly gain, following an even larger jump in March, is likely due mostly to the tax credit although there have been modest signs of economic recovery.

A 32% jump in pending contracts signals that tax-credit induced buying will continue fueling closings for another month or so. Pendings are signed deals that haven’t yet closed, and the 2988 contracts in April mark the highest number since the spring of 2008, just before the worst of the financial meltdown.

Tax credit deals had to be signed by April 30, but buyers have until June 30 for the final closing.

Pricing remained soft, with the average sales price of $201,410 essentially unchanged from a year ago. The gap between sellers’ asking prices and actual sales prices remained above 10%, about double the highest level before the downturn. That indicates sellers continue having to cut prices.

Go to Charlotte Home Listings Search to find active listings that match your criteria. Or do your own closed sales research here.

In a decisive vote, the House of Representatives today voted to approve the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010, which authorizes creation of a national energy retrofit program for American homeowners. When passed by both legislative bodies and signed into law, this Act will be a great thing for owners, upgraders, and potential buyers on Charlotte green homes.

The vote marks a significant milestone in the progress of the bipartisan HOME STAR legislation, although it's important to note that the authorization bill passed today must be matched by the Senate, and followed up with an appropriation bill to allocate funds for the $6 billion program.

HOME STAR will create good American jobs in construction, manufacturing and related industries. It will help American homeowners improve the efficiency of their homes and save money. And it will provide a solid foundation for our country's energy policy and energy security.

If you are interested in seeing green homes for sale in the Charlotte metro market, sign up to have those listings sent to you.

A new Environmental Protection Agency regulation will go into effect this month requiring renovation and repair contractors to be certified to work with lead paint hazards if they will work on a residential property built before 1978 in which lead-based paint will be disturbed. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that this could be as many as 35 million homes. For those consumers concerned about green home issues, as well as all home owners and buyers, please read on.

The rule also applies to places where children under six spend large amounts of time, such as child care centers and schools. The certified contractor must provide the occupants (owner or tenant) with a new information booklet and must follow lead safe work practices.

There are several important exemptions to this rule:

1. Homeowner occupants or tenant occupants may do the work themselves without certification.

2. A residence where there are no children under 6 and no pregnant women as regular residents is a possible exemption.

3. If the area disturbed is less than 6 square feet indoors or 20 square feet outdoors, the project is exempt. Because lead paint was so prevalent on window frames in pre-1978 houses, window replacement on these homes is never exempt.

4. If a qualified lead test specialist certifies that no lead paint will be disturbed, the project is exempt.

5. There are a few additional less likely exemptions.

The required disclosure booklet is to be provided by the contractor, but you may wish to have it for your reference as well. You can get it at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochure.pdf (English) or http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochuresp.pdf (Spanish).

The IRS has published an update to the rules for the repeat-purchase credit, with additional details for taxpayers that had been missing since it's November 6, 2009 passage. Hope this helps those considering a Charlotte home purchase.

To qualify, buyers must meet the following requirements:.

1. Owners of existing homes, specifically, taxpayers who have occupied the same property as a principal residence for 5 consecutive years during the previous 8 years, may now be able to claim a tax credit on a purchase of another home they intend to use as their principal residence.
2. The credit is for up to 10% of the price of the replacement home, capped at $6,500. The home must be placed under contract by April 30, 2010, and the closing must occur no later than June 30, 2010.
3. Members of the armed forces and federal diplomatic and intelligence personnel stationed overseas get one extra year to claim their credit.
4. The maximum purchase price on houses eligible for the credit is $800,000.
5. Purchasers are not required to sell their previous house, but they must be able to demonstrate that the replacement home is or will be their primary residence.
6. A copy of the signed HUD-1 settlement sheet, including the contract sale price and the date of closing. This is to document that the timing of the transaction meets the program's requirements.
7. Evidence of long-term ownership and occupancy of the previous home to meet the 5-consecutive-years requirement. This can be property tax records, homeowner's insurance records or IRS Form 1098 mortgage interest statements for the 5-year period.
8. For buyers claiming a credit on a newly constructed home, for which a HUD-1 settlement sheet is not available, the IRS will accept a copy of the certificate of occupancy showing the purchasers' names, the property address and the date.
9. Your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) must be $125,000 or less if you are single, $225,000 or less if you are married and filing jointly. Above these limits, the allowable credit amount begins to phase down in increments and is eliminated once incomes hit $145,000 for singles and $245,000 for married joint filers.

Be aware, you may have to repay the credit to the government if you sell your new home within 36 months after purchase, convert it to a rental or business property, or if your lender forecloses on the new house.

A gauge of house prices posted its first monthly gain in three years, providing some comfort to sellers weary from slumping values.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index rose 0.5% in May from the prior month, the first gain since July 2006 and biggest since May of that year. Stabilization of the housing market and a rebound in financial assets may bring an end this quarter to the record slump in household wealth. If it is time for your to list your Charlotte area property for sale, get a home valuation before putting it on the market to see what these new data mean for you and your home.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index was down 17.1% from May 2008, less than projected and the smallest year-over-year drop in nine months. Compared with a month earlier, 14 cities showed price gains. The price figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes. Adjusted for seasonal changes, the index fell 0.2 percent in May, the smallest monthly decline since February 2007. If you’re looking for a bottom, there’s a lot of good stuff here.

The report buttresses other measures that have shown a deceleration in price declines. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said last week that its purchase-only price index was down 5.6% in May from a year earlier, the smallest annual drop in 10 months. The FHFA index is a national measure that tracks houses bought with mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and excludes many of the foreclosure sales and properties bought with non-conventional mortgages. In addition to being limited to 20 areas, the S&P/Case-Shiller report also includes distressed properties and those bought with non-conventional loans such as jumbo mortgages.

Purchases of new homes rose 11% in June 2009, the biggest gain in eight years, underscoring evidence that the deepest housing slump since the Great Depression is starting to stabilize.

Sales rose to a 384,000 annual pace, higher than every forecast and the most since November 2008, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The number of houses on the market dropped to the lowest level in more than a decade. Check to see Charlotte houses on the market and sort out the great values.

While this news means the drag on economic growth will turn to a stimulus in the second half of the year, property values are likely to continue falling nationally and rising unemployment will temper the general economic recovery. However, economists are now speculating that this new data means the pricing bottom is not far off, somewhere in the next three to six months. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

The Commerce Department earlier this month reported that builders began work on 582,000 residential properties at an annual rate in June, the most since November. Home construction has subtracted from U.S. gross domestic product every quarter since the start of 2006.

The jump in sales signals the U.S. economy is on the way to recovery. Across the board this is good news. It’s what you would expect to see at the beginning of a recovery.”

Sales of new homes likely rose in June to the highest level in four months, adding to evidence the housing slump that began in 2005 is stabilizing, economists said ahead of a government report today.

Sales increased 2.9% to a 352,000 level, according to the median forecast of 60 economists. Purchases reached a record-low 329,000 level in January 2009.

Falling prices and near record-low mortgage rates have started to lure buyers even as the unemployment rate rises. The worst recession in five decades may end in coming months as the housing and manufacturing downturns ease. Use Charlotte home values to connect with a knowledgeable listing agent and find out what your property should list for.

Home demand is stabilizing which is not surprising given the improvement in Charlotte home affordability. Home sales are likely to pick up from here. Estimates are for a further sequential increase in sales to the 350,000 to 377,000 range.

New-home sales have risen in two of the four months since the January low. Other reports underscore the stabilization in housing. The Wells Fargo/National Association of Homebuilders sentiment index has risen in five of the past six months and existing home sales have increased for three months in a row.

Lawmakers are pushing to revive legislation in the Senate that would almost double an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and expand the program to all borrowers. A group introduced a bill today that would increase the tax credit to $15,000 and remove income and other restrictions on who can qualify.

The legislation would extend the homebuyer credit to multifamily properties used as the borrower's primary residence. It would also eliminate income caps of $75,000 and $150,000 on individuals and couples seeking to claim the credit.

The Business Roundtable and the National Association of Realtors are pushing to expand the tax credit and to lower mortgage rates to revive the U.S. housing market. The proposed bill would extend the credit, which now applies to homes purchased from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, 2009, to one year after the new measure is signed into law. It would make the credit available to all borrowers, not only borrowers who haven't owned a home in the previous three years as is the case under current law. It would also let borrowers divide the credit over two years. The legislation wouldn't be applied retroactively to purchases completed before the date of enactment.