Triangle Business Journal - September 5, 2007
Web site RelocateAmerica.com has named Cary one of is "Top 25 Places to Live to Go to School."
The site, a venture of Michigan real estate firm HomeRoute, touts the high quality of private schools in the Cary area, the heavy use of technology in Cary schools, the Cary schools' emphasis on foreign language, and local schoolchildren's high acceptance rate into colleges and universities.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
A Comprehensive Triangle Information Resource about the Communities within the Triangle Area of North Carolina
A web site resource for those interested in finding information in a consolidated location for all of the communities within the Triangle including the major cities of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill. The site also includes all the smaller communities in Wake, Durham and Orange Counties. The site is www.familyofcommunities.com.
Web sites for the governmental agencies of the local towns and cities, the chambers of commerce, and visitors bureaus are included in this web site.
Web sites for the governmental agencies of the local towns and cities, the chambers of commerce, and visitors bureaus are included in this web site.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Triangle home sales fall 8%
Triangle home sales were down 8 percent in August, according to data released Monday by the Triangle Multiple Listing Service.
Some 3,382 homes were sold in the area in the month, down from 3,688 in August 2006, MLS reported. Sales were down significantly year over year in Wake, Johnston and Durham counties, while Orange County sales were essentially unchanged, ticking upward to 199 from 196.
The decline represents a general trend in the Triangle, where home sales were also down 11 percent from July 2006 to July 2007 in a market where lenders have become wary about who they give loans to and buyers are leery of pulling the trigger on a deal.
Hammering home that point, MLS reported that the number of active residential listings was up nearly 20 percent year over year to 17,389.
The Wake Forest ZIP code 27587 continued its reign as the most active ZIP in the Triangle with 129 home sales in August.
The Southeast Raleigh ZIP of 27610 was No. 2 with 123 sales, while the Fuquay-Varina ZIP of 27526 was No. 3 with 118. Both ZIP codes have had high levels of foreclosure activity recently, as Triangle Business Journal discovered in a recent investigation.
Comments:
It is my feeling that part of the reason fewer homes have been sold is because prices have continued to rise in this area, pricing some buyers out of the market. Some have been scared away from buying due to the all the national media hype about the "slow down" in real estate sales and the mortgage "crisis."
Our market has remained stronger than many other markets, we may now be experiencing a trickle down affect from potential buyers who are unable to sell their homes in the market from which they are relocating.
By Ann Davis, Owner/Broker FOR HomeBUERS, Inc.
Some 3,382 homes were sold in the area in the month, down from 3,688 in August 2006, MLS reported. Sales were down significantly year over year in Wake, Johnston and Durham counties, while Orange County sales were essentially unchanged, ticking upward to 199 from 196.
The decline represents a general trend in the Triangle, where home sales were also down 11 percent from July 2006 to July 2007 in a market where lenders have become wary about who they give loans to and buyers are leery of pulling the trigger on a deal.
Hammering home that point, MLS reported that the number of active residential listings was up nearly 20 percent year over year to 17,389.
The Wake Forest ZIP code 27587 continued its reign as the most active ZIP in the Triangle with 129 home sales in August.
The Southeast Raleigh ZIP of 27610 was No. 2 with 123 sales, while the Fuquay-Varina ZIP of 27526 was No. 3 with 118. Both ZIP codes have had high levels of foreclosure activity recently, as Triangle Business Journal discovered in a recent investigation.
Comments:
It is my feeling that part of the reason fewer homes have been sold is because prices have continued to rise in this area, pricing some buyers out of the market. Some have been scared away from buying due to the all the national media hype about the "slow down" in real estate sales and the mortgage "crisis."
Our market has remained stronger than many other markets, we may now be experiencing a trickle down affect from potential buyers who are unable to sell their homes in the market from which they are relocating.
By Ann Davis, Owner/Broker FOR HomeBUERS, Inc.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Get your free C.L.U.E. report
A C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report is to insurance as your credit report is to your financial status. Some insurance companies, when you call up and ask questions, will log it on your C.L.U.E. report. Any claims also show up on the report. This is a tactic that makes other insurers not want to do business with you. But you can order your free C.L.U.E. report once a year just like you can with your credit report. And if something turns up false, you can challenge it. Go to www.choicetrust.com to order your C.L.U.E. report. You'll have to fill in some blanks and give your social security number, but then you can check out your personal auto and your personal homeowners report. They do charge you if you need a homeowners report on more than one address. (from www.ClarkHoward.com)
When purchasing a home, it would be advisable to request a C.L.U.E. report on the home you are purchasing. It could be difficult for you to insure the new property if the home has had a large claim or several small ones. If any of the claims were water related, the insurance companies may be hesitant to insure it due to the potential for future mold claims. If they agree to insure, the cost may be more expensive.
When purchasing a home, it would be advisable to request a C.L.U.E. report on the home you are purchasing. It could be difficult for you to insure the new property if the home has had a large claim or several small ones. If any of the claims were water related, the insurance companies may be hesitant to insure it due to the potential for future mold claims. If they agree to insure, the cost may be more expensive.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Reading trumps math in Wake scores: Math results for third-eighth graders have risen
RALEIGH - Wake County third through eighth grade students are better at reading than they are at math, according to preliminary test results released Thursday.
According to end-of-grade test results for the 2006-07 school year, 76 percent of students performed at or above grade level in mathematics, compared with 91 percent who read at least at grade level.
"Math has become important, and so we're looking at how do we keep reading where it is and bring math to that level," said David Holdzkom, Wake schools' assistant superintendent for evaluation and research.
Holdzkom said at a news conference Thursday that the math scores had improved since the 2005-06 school year, when 74.5 percent of students were performing at or above grade level. That year, new math tests were established and some systems saw a drop in scores, which is typical when tests change, Holdzkom said. "We're now seeing a rebound," he said.
High school end-of-course results dropped from 79.5 percent in 2005-06 to 74 percent in 2006-07. School leaders said one factor in the decline could be that the district is growing and more students have to be tested.
Kinea White Epps, Staff Writer, The News & Observer, Aug 24, 2007, www.newsobserver.com/news/education/wake/story/681076.html
According to end-of-grade test results for the 2006-07 school year, 76 percent of students performed at or above grade level in mathematics, compared with 91 percent who read at least at grade level.
"Math has become important, and so we're looking at how do we keep reading where it is and bring math to that level," said David Holdzkom, Wake schools' assistant superintendent for evaluation and research.
Holdzkom said at a news conference Thursday that the math scores had improved since the 2005-06 school year, when 74.5 percent of students were performing at or above grade level. That year, new math tests were established and some systems saw a drop in scores, which is typical when tests change, Holdzkom said. "We're now seeing a rebound," he said.
High school end-of-course results dropped from 79.5 percent in 2005-06 to 74 percent in 2006-07. School leaders said one factor in the decline could be that the district is growing and more students have to be tested.
Kinea White Epps, Staff Writer, The News & Observer, Aug 24, 2007, www.newsobserver.com/news/education/wake/story/681076.html
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Wake County Foreclosures Increasing
The number of foreclosed properties more than doubled in the Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area (MSA) the first six months of 2007.
According to RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks such data, the MSA - which includes Wake, Franklin and Johnston counties - saw 2505 foreclosure filings from January to June, or one filing for every 158 households.
Overall, 1906 properties had foreclosure filings on them, up 105 % from the same six-month period in 2006.
There were multiple foreclosure filings on some properties, accounting for the difference between the number of foreclosure filings and the number of properties hit with foreclosure filings.
The Raleigh-Cary MSA was No. 60 out of the nation's 100 biggest MSAs in foreclosures per household. The Charlotte-Gastonia MSA was No. 38, while the Greensboro-High Point MSA was No. 70.
The ignominious honor of being No. 1 went to Stockton, Calif., which had one foreclosure filing for every 27 households. The Detroit area was No. 2, while Las Vegas was No. 3.
www.trianglebizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2007/08/13/daily14.html
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