Durham, Chapel Hill Home Sales Led Triangle in February

Real Estate Inc. Report: Durham, Chapel Hill home sales led in growth of Triangle in February

With spring and summer buying season around the corner, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill home sales in the Triangle are revving up earlier than usual.

Homes sales in February were up 11 percent compared to the year prior with 2,047 homes sales recorded within the the 16-county region tracked by Triangle Multiple Listing Service.

It was the strongest February sales month since 2008.

The bulk of the new home sales growth was in Durham and Orange counties where 275 homes and 92 homes sold in the month, respectively. For Durham, it was a 34 percent increase over the year prior. For Orange County, it was an 18 percent increase over the year prior.

Home sales in Wake County, where more than half of the region’s home sales occur, was up 4 percent with 1,098 homes sold in February.

The price of new and existing homes sold in the Triangle also continues to escalate with the change in median sales price up 9.4 percent to around $216,450 in February and the change in average price up 6 percent to $252,342.

That will probably be the lowest price rates of the year, though, since January and February are usually among the slowest sales months of the year. In 2015, the median sales price for a home sold in the Triangle peaked at around $231,000 in June. The average home price for that month almost topped $270,000.

At the same time, the inventory of homes listed for sale in the Triangle is still way below normal with only a 2.8-month supply of inventory available in February, according to MLS, meaning that potential buyers have fewer options from which to choose.

Amanda Hoyle covers commercial and residential real estate for Triangle Business Journal. Follow her on Twitter @TBJrealestate

If you are considering a relocation to the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Triangle area of North Carolina, consider using an Exclusive Buyers Agent. One who will have only your interests, needs and desires in mind. Exclusive Buyer Only Agents never take listings or work for a listing company, therefore, no conflict of interest can occur. FOR HomeBUYERS has represented Home Buyers exclusively since 1991 and pioneered Exclusive Buyer Representation in Wake County.
To contact us call or text 919-219-9878 today for a no obligation private consultation about our services. You may email Allen@ForHomeBuyers.com.

 

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Raleigh Is 5th Top Destination for Career Professionals

Raleigh is the 5th top destination in US for career-oriented professionals, according to a new report by staffing firm Robert Half.

The rankings of 25 metros are based on 25 indicators in four general categories that influence career decisions and work-life balance: Career prospects, quality of life, cost of living and cultural diversity.

“With three well-known universities in the area, as well as close proximity to the Research Triangle Park, companies have access to a highly educated and diverse talent pool,” says Lauren Cassidy, senior regional vice president in the Raleigh-Durham area for the Menlo Park, California-based Robert Half International. “Many employers are attracted to the Triangle, and job opportunities have intensified. High tech, finance and education are major industries driving hiring in the area.”

The top four cities are Seattle, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

This week, Raleigh was also named the fifth-best state capital in the U.S. by WalletHub, for similar reasons.

Rebecca Troyer manages the day-to-day process of delivering the daily digital content and the weekly print edition of the Triangle Business Journal. 

Contact FOR HomeBUYERS an exclusive buyer real estate company when relocating to the Raleigh, Triangle, NC area for a new job. We will only represent your interests. Call or text Allen Shaver at 919-219-9878 or email Allen@forhomebuyers.com.

 

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Pulte, Triangle, NC’s, Largest Builder Just Got Bigger

As one of the largest Raleigh-Triangle-NC home builders, FOR HomeBUYERS, an Exclusive Buyer Agency, has sold many of this Builder’s New Home Construction. We are very familiar with their procedures and building methods.

When visiting a New Home Building Site, it is important to know the person with whom you are talking is working for the Builder NOT You. Therefore, it is imperative that you bring your own Buyer’s Agent when you visit with the intention of building or buying one of their new homes.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) in January finalized its acquisition of about 7,000 new homes and home lots owned by move-up builder John Wieland Homes in five Southeastern metro areas, including the Triangle, in a deal that was valued at more than $430 million.

For the Triangle, the acquisition means that Pulte Homes has added 700 more home lots and land parcels owned by John Wieland Homes in Wake County at a value of more than $34.9 million, according to a review of county deed records. Sales data for the company’s lot acquisitions in Chapel Hill was not yet available.

Atlanta-based John Wieland Homes has been actively building in five neighborhood communities in Wake County, including two neighborhoods at Traditions at Wake Forest, another in Holding Village in Wake Forest, Woodcreek in Holly Springs, River Run in Raleigh and another at South Grove in Chapel Hill.

A spokeswoman for Pulte says the John Wieland sales and operations office in Morrisville remains open and staffed by John Wieland employees, and that the brand will continue to be used in many of Pulte’s high-end communities that were part of the acquisition.

PulteGroup ranked as the largest home building company in the Triangle in 2014 with nearly $170 million in sales, according to Triangle Business Journal’s 2016 Book of Lists. John Wieland Homes did not respond to requests for annual report numbers from TBJ’s research team.

Amanda Hoyle covers commercial and residential real estate for Triangle Business Journal. Follow her on Twitter @TBJrealestate

 

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Apex, NC in Wake County Named #1 Best Place to Live by Money Magazine

Wake County’s Small town of Apex has been named 2015’s # 1 Best Place to Live by Money Magazine.

Apex beats out 3,625 U.S. towns with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 on Money magazine’s new ranking of the ” Best Places to Live 2015.”

“Apex has all the things you’d expect in the No. 1 place to live: a charming downtown, top-notch schools, and the kind of community spirit that draws 15,000 people, or more than a third of the population, to the annual PeakFest street fair,” says Money. It also benefits from the regions’s high-paying technology jobs, and “unlike that other technology hub on the West Coast, Apex is still affordable.”

The rankings are based on multiple data sources, including housing affordability, foreclosure rates, educational interest and attainment, access to health care, arts and leisure activities, commute times and population density.

Median income in Apex is $88,558, job growth is 15.5 percent and the median home price is $243,125, according to the report.

Other North Carolina towns on the top 50 list include Harrisburg, No. 41, and Stallings, No. 46 – both near Charlotte.

To learn more about Apex, NC visit their web site: https://www.apexnc.org/.

If you are contemplating a relocation to Wake County in NC, Apex would be an excellent community to check out. To get your questions answered about the various communities in Wake County which might be considered for relocation call or text FOR HomeBUYERS at 919-219-9878. As Exclusive Buyer’s Agents, we will provide honest, unbiased information.

 

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Raleigh #1 of 25 Best Cities to Find A Job

According to Glassdoor’s newest report Raleigh, North Carolina ranks first among the top 25 best cities for jobs. The “job score* was determined by weighting three factors equally: how easy it is to get a job (hiring opportunity), how affordable it is to live there (cost of living), and how satisfied employees are working there (job satisfaction).

As part of this report, Glassdoor included each city’s median pay for employees, median home value, job satisfaction rating, number of current job openings and population.

  1. Raleigh, NC – Glassdoor Job Score: 4.1
  • Number of Job Openings: 24,146
  • Population: 1,242,974
  • Median Base Salary: $50,950
  • Median Home Value: $198,400
  • Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.3

To view the full report visit the Glassdoor article.

Glassdoor is a web site that lists jobs in the Raleigh, Durham Chapel Hill, Triangle Area that might assist with your job search. With the Raleigh jobs market ranking #1, begin your search for a job here.

When seeking employment in the Raleigh, Durham or Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, FOR HomeBUYERS, an Exclusive Buyer Real Estate Agency who works only with Buyers would love to assist in finding you your new home in the area. We can advise you on good school districts and desirable neighborhoods that meet your needs.

Contact us today by calling or texting 919-219-9878.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Real Estate Home Sellers Beware of Scam

FOR HomeBUYERS is providing this especially disturbing article to caution those in a real estate transaction about this apparently new form of theft by hackers. We want sellers to be aware of this scam so that they might take all precautions to protect themselves.

Hackers make off with $200,000 in real estate sale funds in savvy scam

Amanda Hoyle

Staff Writer – Triangle Business Journal 

Both the North Carolina State Bar and the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office have sent out warnings across the state about a group of hackers involved in a scam to steal money from seller accounts involved in real estate closings.

In one such case, the scammers made off with $200,000, according to the AG’s office.

Here’s how it went down, according to a fraud alert sent to all N.C. State Bar members earlier this week:

  • The law firm on a Friday received both an email and a phone call from a lady claiming to be one of the firm’s out-of-state sellers. She requested the firm wire her funds to her bank account.
  • Having fulfilled the law firm’s two-level confirmation process requiring both an email and a phone call response, the funds were wired to the bank account.
  • The firm learned Monday, however, that the seller’s email had been hacked and “bad actors” had pretended to be the seller on the phone call.
  • It was only after the funds had been wired that the lawyer noticed that that the email address of the hacker was different from the actual seller’s email address by one letter.

“We attempted to retract the wire and we learned yesterday that the bank did not retract the wire and will not communicate further without a subpoena,” the letter stated.

The State Bar and the AG’s office are recommending that attorneys and others who handle real estate transactions initiate the phone call to confirm the emailed wiring instructions and using only the number in the client file.

Report possible scams to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or filing a complaint online at www.ncdoj.gov.

Amanda Hoyle covers commercial and residential real estate. Follow her on Twitter

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Preston Development Co. holding ‘lot draw’ for new Cary Luxury Community

Eight of the Triangle’s biggest custom home builder groups were invited to a “lot draw” event at Preston’s Cary office.

Competition for the best new home sites in the Triangle is heating up again.

Preston Development Co. of Cary, is getting ready to break ground on a much smaller project in Cary, a 73-lot neighborhood called Sedgefield.

And in preparation for Sedgefield’s start, Preston invited the owners of eight of the Triangle’s biggest custom home builder groups to a “lot draw” event at Preston’s Cary office.

In a lot draw, the builders put their names in a hat, and the first name randomly drawn gets to choose which lot within the community he wants to build on first, obviously taking the best lot locations first. The second name drawn gets second choice, and so on.

Homesites in Sedgefield, a community that will be built on about 30 acres near the intersection of Morrisville Parkway and N.C. 55 and connecting to Wackena Road, will be a quarter-acre to one-third acre each. Homes will be priced from the $600,000s.

Builders selected for Sedgefield include Rick Barrett of CityScape Builders of Raleigh; Alan Hill and Justin Patsey of Gray Line Builders of Cary; Jimmy Raley of Pegram Residential of Cary; Terry Poythress and Steve Poythress of Poythress Homes of Cary; Wayne Holt of Reward Builders of Holly Springs; Rudy Upton of Upton & Co. of Apex; Randy Walker and Wes Walker of Walker Design Build of Cary; and Kyle Ward and Stephen Ward of Wardson Construction of Cary.

Amanda Jones Hoyle covers commercial and residential real estate for Triangle Business Journal.

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