Will Donald Trump buy The Point Lake and Golf Club?

Wow. Funny how old information finally made it to the press, WBTV article (link to it here) There is nothing new in the information they provide and. Eric Trump and reps from the Trump org. have given us a look and have been in an advisory meeting but for now there is nothing on the table. Any sale needs to be voted on by the membership.

What's your opinion on a Trump owned Point Club? Does the name add value?

I'm a full equity golf member so it pertains to my family and the investment we made. For the swim/tennis member or community member it should be of no big concern. The interest, appeal and the value is the Golf Course.

118 Ewart Place mooresville NC

This home in the Farms closed recently at $640,000. The home has 4789 sq feet and sold for $134 per square foot slightly under The Farms average price of $137 and median price of $136.

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index

According to yesterday's release of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures sales of repeat home and reflects changes in prices, not actual prices showed that the Charlotte homes prices fell 2.8% from year ago levels. As Charlotte was the last market out of 20 Metro markets to start falling almost as much as 2 years prior to other markets it should come as no surprise given our local economy and the reliance on the banking industry that it will be one of the last markets to recover. It is good to see tha Boston, San Diego markets showing signs of vibrancy.

The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions

Market Distortions when Agents are Better Informed: The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions.

This is an interesting paper from the University of Chicago that seeks to understand the informational advantages that realtors have over home sellers and that they on average sell their own homes for almost 4% more on average, and even more than that when a buyer does not use a buyers agent. Much of the work I do is to help my buyers and sellers understand this informational difference and to help them understand values better. As I read this paper it makes me think about some of my competition and how they run their business and in some cases do exactly what this paper talks about in that the incremental difference in trying to get a higher price for their sellers does not make economic sense for the agent and they talk the seller down in price in some cases below value....yes I've seen it and the values that a few homes have sold for when it's not a forced sale don't fit my valuation matrix. Email me if you want a copy of this whitepaper.

The Farms Sales

The Farms community has seen 15 sales over the last 5 months, due to the fairly homogenous nature of lots and homes in this community it's always interesting to see valuations, which in this case range from a low of $73 per sq foot for the sales office (are you kidding me!) to $150 per sq foot, by eliminating the 73 per sq sale as an outlier, we are looking at an average of $137 per square foot with not a whole lot of variation. For the sellers, we have alot of ideas and creative marketing expertise to get your house shown. Let us show you how we can help.

Foreclosure Hurts Values More Than Bankruptcy

 Foreclosure reduces the value of a home by 27 percent on average, according to a new study from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Other kinds of forced sales have less dramatic impacts, for instance; an estate sale after an owner’s death reduces the price of the home by only 5 percent to 7 percent and a bankruptcy filing cuts the value by an average 3 percent.

If you would like to view the 33 page white paper click here

Soiree on Main is closing.

Soiree, the upscale restaurant in that opened in 2006 in downtown Mooresville is closing. Founded by the former head chef at The Point, Jon Spencer, the downturn in the economy is the driving factor. A new restaurant owner is hoping to open in the space. We will miss Soiree, it helped to start the revitalization of downturn Mooresville (DOMO) and helped usher in JJ Wasabi's and more.

Iredell County jobless rate at 11.6 percent

JUST LISTED Waterfront

I have just listed this fabulous waterfront property. The property is over 2 acres and sits on a level lot complete with your own sandy beach and has terrific views of the lake. It is listed for only $675,000.
It is an incredible LakeFront Lot in the Point 2.21 acres!!. A great value for this size lot....Private lot will accomodate a full basement 6 bedroom home with a pool. Septic system is located in the front of the property. Please contact me for house plans - over 10,000 sq ft home with gorgeous lakefront beach setting. House plan to be approved by ACC; no time frame to build. This is located in an exclusive area of The Point with some of the larger homes.CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MLS LISTING

Foreclosure sale in The Point

This 3500 square foot home located in The Point and offered at $472,000 just closed at $470,000. This home was a foreclosure sale and listed through Old Stone realty. It's sale price puts it at $134 per square foot and around the same levels of other distressed non-waterfront properties.

A great example of waterfront land prices on Lake Norman in Mooresville

This property is .24 acres, lot size is 73x143, it is in a cul-de-sac near the end of Stutts Road and just closed at $389,900 which was full list price. The home is 1200 sq foot, perfectly liveable and was updated in 2007 with granite counters and stainless appliances, but in most cases these small homes are torn down and it's the land and the view which holds all the value. This property changed hands a few times and represents a pretty good picture of typical waterfront lots and the trend of prices and values; it sold in 2004 for $135,000, re-sold in 2006 for $475,000, immediately put back on the market for a flip at $649,000 as it was updated with the granite, hardwoods, etc and was being rented at $1100 per month and was sold in spring 2007 for $630,000. A good example of the "hot potato" being passed on to the next person. The home back then was marketed as "If you ever want BIG water views under $700k, this is probably your last chance!"

For those that didn't recognize a clearly identifiable bubble or didn't have someone working for them with knowledge, shame on them. The home now owned at $630,000 was put back on the market in May 2009 for $575,000, reduced to $489,900 in February 2010 and then reduced $100k to $389,900 and went under contract in 7 days at full price. Lots like this are finding interested investors in the 3's, still up big time from the $135,000 in 2004 it sold for.

There are still some sellers whose prices won't attract buyers, if you are a buyer or seller contact me to help you with values, so you don't end up holding the "hot potato". And for buyers; when the list price is right you have to strike fast. 

Sales price vs list price since June 1 for Lake Norman area 13-2

Here's a list of all homes sold in the Lake Norman area 13-2 since June 1 and are in order of the lowest sales price relative to it's last list price. Click on the chart to view it.

Activity in The Point, The Farms , The Harbour

Here's a look at the activity in these three communities since June 1 and only includes housing, no land. The home that sold in The Harbour was an estate sale and sold via auction process. A nice home on the water with a basement and outdoor living area including pool this buyer got a nice deal.

The Point sales price vs tax values YTD thru June 2010

YTD thru June there have been 27 homes sold vs 16 last year in the first 6 months of the year. This chart depicts the sales price as a percentage of tax value in order from most expensive home to least expensive home. As you can see there has been only 6 homes out of 27 that have sold for more than tax value. For homes priced under 1.4 million there has only been 2 that sold for more than it's tax value. One of those homes was my listing and we got their home sold for 4% over tax value, a rare event in these market conditions. The average has been a sales price equal to 88% of tax value.

Foreclosures Account for 31% of Sales

Online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac reported today that homes in foreclosures accounted for 31 percent of the residential sales in the first quarter of 2010. The average sales price of these properties was nearly 27 percent below the average sales price of properties not in foreclosure.

RealtyTrac expects foreclosure discounts to stay between 25 percent and 30 percent as lenders steadily release foreclosures. The average price of foreclosed properties is $171,971.

Overall, foreclosures are down 14 percent in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. They are down 33 percent from the peak during the first quarter of 2009.

Source: RealtyTrac and Bloomberg, Dan Levy (06/30/2010)