Wednesday, November 13, 2013



Good morning from Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach,

I start this month with a big Thank You to all the men and women that have served in our Armed Forces. With several members of my family having served in the US Army I am very grateful for the many sacrifices made for our Country’s freedoms. Thank you.

The Good News is that the average sold price for October is better than last month and better than last October. The average sold price for October was up down 3.0% from last month and up from last year by 13.1%. Our listing inventory decreased by 45 units from last month, while the average list price decreased by $6,133. Our pending index is at 1,035 units as of 11/09/13, we are even with last year. In October sellers paid concessions in about 28.1% of the transactions, an increase of about 7%. The average concession amount is $3,431. Our average days on the market decreased 9 days to 116 days. The number of homes that sold in 15 days or less continues to remain very low, 15.1% of October sold homes.

Mortgage rates have decided it is time to start coming down again, the last three weeks we have seen very small decrease in the Freddie Mac 30 year fixed rate. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.16% with an average 0.8 points for the week ending November 7, 2013. With smaller inventories, sellers getting 95% of their asking price, shorter number of days that homes are on the market we have seen a very good summer and can look toward a strong fall.

The number of sold homes for October vs. the current inventory keeps us right on the edge with an 8 month supply of homes, however most of our peak months take place between May thru July. It seems that most of our comparisons go back to 2007. If you were considering buying a home now is the time as our basic factors continue to improve, this just further enhances the opportunities for buyers – great property deals as well as very attractive mortgage rates, now if ever there was a great time to buy we can say it is now.

Listing Inventory
We saw a 45 unit decrease in our listing inventory for October over the month of September. We are about 125 units over November 1, 2012, up about 3.4% from last year. A year ago our average list price was $355,369 this year we are up by .2%. We currently have 3,791 single family homes for sale in our MLS as of November 1st. January was the low point of our listing inventory and we are now in the leveling stage of our listings. Typically we are done with our major growth in listing inventory; a low inventory will make it difficult to find that “perfect home” for your buyer.






Monthly Average Sold Price
October average sold price ($243,635) shows an increase of 3.0% from last month ($236,535) and up by 13.1% from October 2012 ($215,349). Our monthly average sold price is up $7,100 from last month and up $28,286 from October 2012. October average sold price is up 10.7% from our yearend (2012) sales price of $220,102. While we had a good month we still have a ways to go – the best October was in 2007 when the average sold price was $286,174 and we are currently 14.9% behind that number. 

Monthly Sold Units
We are down 67 sold units from September 2013 and down 31 units from October 2012. This October we are down 12.5% in units sold compared to September 2013. We are 6.2% sold units behind October 2012. While we are only 31 units down from last year, the best October is in 2006 with 605 sold units. We continue to have strong monthly sales – in 2012 we averaged 467 units a month, currently thru October 2013 we are averaging 532 units a month. With an average sales price of $243,635 that is an additional 65 sales a month – Great. We continue our positive trend of upward sales.

Average Sold Price Year to Date

Year over year our year to date numbers have dipped a little.
2003 year end average sale price $ 186,137
2004 year end average sale price $ 210,048
2005 year end average sale price $ 254,080
2006 year end average sale price $ 264,498
2007 year end average sale price $ 273,408
2008 year end average sale price $256,510
2009 year end average sale price $235,116
2010 year end average sale price $230,459
2011 year end average sale price $221,848
2012 year end average sale price $220,102

Our current Year to Date average sold price - $231,063 about 5.0% up from Year End 2012.

Median Sold Price
Our Median sold price increased this month by 9.6% from last month. Our national numbers lag by one month. The slight increase in our median sold price in October puts us back in sync with the National Median. On a National scale the economy is trying to improve. Ours should level out as we go into the fall. The last 3 months we have cycled with the National Median we just seem to be a month behind the national numbers. You can see that the National Median had a slight decrease while we had a little increase. It looks like both National & local Median are headed to crash into each other as WRAR is increasing while our National Median seems to be falling.



Pending

Pending Sales 
A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not yet closed. Sales are typically finalized within one to two months from signing. I am counting Active Due Diligence and pending contracts in my total pending sales. I look at the total pending units on a regular basis and this is how they chart out. Our pending index was very consistent in 2012 with the pending index staying above 1,000 units for about 8 months. 2013 has already started strong with our pending index above 1,000 units since Feb 1st 2013. Currently our pending index is at 1,035 as of 11/9/13 and we were at 1,055 on 10/12/12. We are 47.9% ahead of October 2011. We have had a slight decrease from the 1st of October 2013 to the 1st of November 2013 – about a 2.5% decrease in pending sales.  This would not be unusual as fall and winter months come about.

Market Absorption rate 
The number of homes sold in October, 469 divided by the current listing inventory, 3,791 gives us an 8.0 month supply of single family homes. This is an increase of 1 month from last month. I anticipate we have a chance to see this get lower this fall. We are hearing from agents about more multiple offers as the inventory shrinks.

List to Sold price ratio
The average list price of the sold properties is $253,899 and the average sold price is $243,635 for October; which gives us a 96.0% list to sold price ratio – We have now gone over a year where we are above the magic 95% list to sales ratio.

Seller Concessions 
We had 28.1% of sold properties report a sales concession for October, an increase of 6.0% from last month. We want this number to go lower. The average concession was $3,431

Days on Market 
The average days on market for the sold properties are now at 116 for October a 9 day decrease from last month. Only 15.1% of the properties were placed under contract in less than 15 days for the month of October.

Rolling 12 months
Our rolling 12 months gives us a better look at our production. It helps to smooth out a month that jumps up and down. This is the eighth month our rolling numbers are ahead of last year in both units and sold price. When we look at November 1st, 2012 to October 31, 2013 we have 6,300 sold units and when we compare the year prior November 1st, 2011 to October 31, 2012 we have an 895 unit gain (5,405 sold units). When we look at the same rolling 12 months for average sold price we see that we are up by 6.5%. So the dates of 11/1/2012 to 10/31/2013 we have an average sold price of $230,869 while from 11/1/2011 to 10/31/2012 we had an average sold price $216,678.

Carolina & Kure Beach
 There are currently 317 single family homes for sale and this represents a change of 4 units from October 1, 2013 and it represents about 8.4% of our total WRAR inventory. The average list price is $379,374 and a decrease of about $2,484 from October 1, 2013. In October there were 30 homes sold, divide that by the homes available and you have a 9.5 month supply of homes in Carolina and Kure Beach. The average sold price for the month of October was $311,775 and is up by $62,151 from September 2013. Our year to date is just a little behind last year - the average sold price of $283,587 for October 2013 and at $285,781 for October 2012 gives us a loss of .8%. The rolling 12 months for Carolina Beach average sold price is $281,326 vs. $284,654 for the previous year shows a loss of 1.2%. Keep up the good work – Carolina & Kure Beach.

This data was pulled on November 9, 2013, based on information from the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS Incorporated, for the period Jan. 1, 2005 through October 31, 2013.

 As reported by CoreLogic this week – Nationwide - Home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 12.0 percent in September 2013 compared to September 2012. September marks the 19th consecutive month of year-over-year home price gains. When it comes to our local numbers for Sept 12 compared to Sept 13 the average sold price is 5.3% ahead of last year this time.

On a less statistical note:  Those of you that have received my email correspondence in the past may be surprised to see that my broker affiliation has changed.  As a rule, I am adverse to change…however, recently the opportunity presented itself for me to align with the Keller Williams franchise here in Wilmington.  I am a huge fan of Gary Keller and in particular the Keller Williams business model.  Keller Williams is the largest real estate firm in the nation and my team and I are excited to be a part of the growth and establishment of the kw brand in Wilmington.  Please look for us on the internet and in social media.

As always, we are here to serve should the need arise.

Kind regards,

Kirk Pugh
910-622-3478
Check out KirkPughRealty on FB!

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About Me

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I am a 25-year hospitality professional turned real estate broker and investor. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, I have been blessed to live in some amazing places during the course of my career. Key Largo, Florida and Sea Island, Georgia, Southern California, Upstate New York, and numerous locales throughout the Midwest are just a few of the places I have called home. I have made Wilmington my home since 2002 and turned a passion and love of real estate into my vocation. I have been an active real estate investor for eleven years. I have purchased, rehabbed and sold dozens of homes over the course of my real estate career. Over the past three and a half years, I have dedicated myself to the practice of general brokerage. I am a REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty and offer traditional sales and marketing for buyers and sellers. I also offer consulting services to other investors. I am a past Board Member of the Coastal Carolina Real Estate Investors association. Whether for retirement, professional relocation, lifestyle changes, or investment, I have the local knowledge and aptness to help you achieve your real estate goals.
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