2012 Finishing Strong In Most Areas, Prices Begin Recovery

Low Rates, Pricing Bottoms, Spur Increase in Lake Area Luxury Unit Home Sales For 2012   As has been the case for most of 2012, luxury home sales surged on through early November, with a total of 383 luxury homes sold year to date, versus 299 at this time last year in the Lake Norman/Davidson area. As we forecast in August, high summer Internet and home showing activity materialized into actual transactions throughout the fall with most areas and pricing segments running well ahead of last year in terms of units sold. As of this writing, the area luxury pending index stands at 74 luxury homes under contract, a solid number heading into the holiday season and year end.  Several areas and price ranges reported excellent results so far, with the surprise of the year being the robust activity on the west shore of Lake Norman in the under 1 million dollar waterfront segment, where 35 properties have sold so far this year. Cornelius has paced the east side of Lake Norman, particularly in the 500k-999k range, where 73 homes have sold compared with 54 last year, an increase of 35%. Activity in those segments also spurred an improvement in pricing in some areas like The Peninsula, where the under 1 million range saw an uptick in average sold per foot pricing from 163.00 per square foot in 2011, to 172/sf thus far in 2012. Segments in Mooresville, The Point, Davidson, and some areas on the north shores of Lake Norman also showed upticks in unit sales, as well as modest improvement in pricing.      Ultra Luxury Segment-What may come as a slight surprise, given the recent headline stealing 4.5 and 7.5 million dollar transactions on the lake, is the fact that the range above 2 million in list price, has underperformed relative to both the lower ranges, and last year, when 16 deals closed versus the 9 lake wide so far in 2012. The high end deals of recent months will likely help appraisal values given they were done at solid per foot prices, but there remains a pretty competitive level of inventory relative to the number of actual sales. The range is such a small subset of the market that a handful of deals can change the dynamic, from lagging to robust, yet it still seems there's more work to do in terms of inventory reduction in this range (there are 34 homes lake wide on the market over 2 million).   Inventory-Inventory levels have continued to show improvement in most areas, and 2 of the 3 price ranges we track in the luxury space. At the height of the recession, there were close to 900 luxury homes on the market, today, there are 433, including 34 over 2 million, and 11 over 3 million. Distressed inventory has also remained manageable, with 29 homes on the market, or less than 6% of total listed luxury inventory (and just 1 in River Run, 2 in The Point, and 3 in The Peninsula over 500,000). Slim distressed pickings in the high demand communities.  Banks have continued to unwind distressed properties at a pace that the markets have been able to manage the past year and a half, and while Notices of Default did trend up slightly for a period this year, it so far has not translated into another spike in actual distressed homes hitting the market.    Of the new metrics we've introduced, our smart phone inquiry tracking has shown a decrease in total drive by traffic of 35% since mid-September, something we view as typical for the season, given showings begin to decline this time of year as well. One encouraging factor coming from our smart phone tracking, is the 36% makeup of out of state inquiries at a time of the year that we anticipated this proportion would drop. At the height of the summer, out of state drive by inquiries were running at 50% of total, so while we've had a drop, its indicative of a remaining high level of interest overall.

Million Dollar Range Swings Back Up at The Point

Million Dollar Range Swings Back Up at The Point While sold results at The Point appear to be headed towards a positive increase relative to 2011, the pace has been a bit more sporadic than elsewhere, particularly in some ranges.   The community was trending ahead of 2011 results in strong fashion through June, and activity in the million dollar to 2 million dollar range has remained active and ahead of last year (including the home to the left sold by IJ's Annie Livingston). Activity in the under 1 million, and upper range above 2 million, has been more unpredictable, with the community recording its first 2 million dollar plus deal of the year last month, while sold results in the 500k to 999k range sputtered a bit the last 60 days. There has been a recent uptick, with 5 pendings in that range, as well as the continued strong showing in the million dollar mid-ranges, where 5 more homes are pending. A second 2 million dollar plus home is also pending. Given the Trump ownership change occurred in May, and several of the improvements are unfinished, its a little too early to observe any trend or impact upon the residential market at The Point, of the golf course changing hands. It remains a flagship community at Lake Norman that will be interesting to watch as the dynamic of new ownership plays out. Inventory remains very healthy and in fact declined a bit, from 47 units listed over 500k, to 43, with the upper ranges declining, while the lower range increased.    Price Range     Actives     Pendings    Shows/house  Sold Last 60 Days   Sold 60 Days''11 500k-999k         24           5                 3/month              2                   6 1m-2m             13           5                  2/month              2                   2 2m plus            6             1                  1/month             1                   0 See these Point area homes and others at www.IvesterJackson.com.

Solid Fall Continues around Lake Norman

Conditions in both the Lake Norman area and in historic Davidson continue to reflect an active fall buying season. In many areas and price ranges, showings are running ahead of last year, in some cases doubling September’s activity of last year.

The Point has rebounded to show 11 homes pending, The Peninsula has 12, and overall, there are 75 luxury homes over 500,000 in value that are under contract in the area. A very solid number for this time of the year.

As the positive news radiates, some homeowners are coming on the market with listings at a time of the year when activity traditionally takes a downturn. Cornelius has seen a 10% increase in inventory in the 500-999k range, but also has 20 homes pending in that range with 66 now active.

Ivester Jackson brokers continue to generate action, with Lori Ivester Jackson closing a 1.5m house in Cornelius, putting another 2m house pending with her buyers. Doris Nash and Julie Pfeffer both had multiple closings in The Point and River Run, Annie Livingston posted a million dollar pending transaction in The Point,  Julie Lopez and Sherry Hickman also sold 500k homes in Davidson, while Melinda Meade White closed a 600 and 900 k home in The Peninsula, the latter with IJ’s Jan Sipe on the listing side. Brokers Lisa Turley, Christy Chaffee, and Clarke Crawford also recorded pending and sold transactions the past 6 weeks.

Visit us at http://www.ivesterjackson.com or call Annie at 704-996-2744

Hot Properties Sept. 2012

Hot Properties Sept. 2012

In Cornelius A custom-built home at 19500 Weaver’s Circle in Patrick’s Purchase has sold for $1.49 million. The 8,712 square foot home was listed at $1.65 by Lori Jackson of Ivester Jackson Distinctive Properties. It has a tax value of $1.67 million. The waterfront home on .69 acres features a gourmet kitchen with a lower level full bar and wine cellar. Reed Jackson of Ivester Jackson Distinctive Properties represented the buyers.

to continue reading this article from the newspaper Business Today click here





Cornelius: This 8,712 sq. ft. home has sold for $1.49 million

How Things You Read and Hear Can Hurt Your Effort To Sell Your Home

There are many sources of information today that can influence the sale of your home, from online sources like Zillow and Trulia, to getting the opinions of your friends, its important to weigh these in proportion to the advice you’re getting from your broker. While Zillow, Trulia, and other online sources have some great content, its important to remember that it many times is not market specific to what may be happening here at Lake Norman. Your friends can also be sources of opinions, its just important to put those in perspective as just one of a handful of comments you’ll hear while your home is for sale. Here are some of the more common mistakes people can make when evaluating your home.
1. “My friends tell me that they’d rather pick what updates go into a home they buy, so I’m going to wait and let a buyer do their own”. Sure, anyone if given a chance to pick their own tastes, will say they want to do that, particularly if you’re having a conversation with a friend about why you don’t want to update. Friends, unless they are unusually blunt, are many times going to agree with you, many have not actually gone through serious remodel projects themselves, and typically are not thinking from the standpoint of someone moving from out of state, which is currently 50% of our local traffic. What we saw in a recent study of all the homes sold in River Run the past 12 months, was that homes with partial updates garnered roughly a 20-40.00 per square foot premium over homes with no updates, while homes with maximum updates brought up to 60.00 per square foot more. On a 3000 square foot home, that’s anywhere from 60,000 to as much as 180,000 in resale price, more than enough to justify updates. What’s more, the updates alone raised the odds the house would sell to begin with. Many buyers do not want to deal with the unknowns and hassle of doing their own updates, particularly if they are moving from out of town, and given a choice between doing their own and accepting something close, they will many times choose the latter.

2. “I’ve read that people from the Northeast, Asia, and Europe are buying real estate as an investment, why isn’t my home being advertised in those areas?”. Its true that given the unpredictable nature of the stock market and the attractiveness of home prices, that real estate is once again becoming popular with overseas investors. The facts are that many of these people are attracted to high profile areas like California, Florida, Manhattan, and Las Vegas. Not only are these recognizable areas, but they are also those which have sustained some of the largest price devaluations in recent years. Investors are attracted to places with 50 and 60% reductions in value, particularly those which are widely recognized. Our firm periodically advertises in unique channels which tap into these pools, but when we do so, we are typically touting the entire Lake Norman region as opposed to an individual house. The odds of one individual house selling from that type of ad are extremely long, as most shrewd investors, even if they do have interest in the area, will then proceed to shop homes as values within the context of others in that area. Finally, with all of the channels available for people to shop online, even international shoppers and those from other areas of the country have little problem finding properties on sites like Realtor.com, The DuPont Registry, etc. both of which get a fair amount of international traffic.

3. “The Zillow Zestimate Says The House I’m Selling Or Buying Is Worth More or Less”. There are lots of great new tools online to help you understand information about homes. However, as you climb up the food chain with custom features and various types of golf course or lakefront views on Lake Norman, its almost impossible for a computer program to have any idea what the inside of the home looks like, its trims or updates in critical areas like the kitchen or master bath, etc. “Zestimates”, are probably a decent indicator in tract communities where lot size and builder updates were comparable from house to house, but when you start moving up into custom homes and those with a wide variety of expensive features and upgrades, the most accurate indicator of price, far and away, is the value of the closest and most recent sold comparable homes, and at times that can be a very challenging thing to pin down. One of just many reasons you need a realtor who’s been in every home in close proximity to your price range.

4. “Realtor Fees Are High For Just Marketing The Home, I’m Going To Try By Owner Or A Discounter Firm”. One of the great misconceptions about the fees involved in selling your home, is that of associating the cost to “market” your home, with what you are actually paying for, which goes well beyond that part of the process. At our firm, getting the house maximum exposure is just one small part of what comes with our fee. Many of our clients are selling expensive homes, and strategy of pricing, understanding when market momentum is or isn’t in your favor, as well as the negotiating of the deal, can many times impact one of our clients by 50,000 to well over 100,000 dollars in the eventual negotiated price of the home. This winter we had a client who saw an agent down the street in The Peninsula dramatically reduce and sell a home in the 500k range to a list of 510 and sale of 470k. It was January, and our leading indicators told us that due to the lower inventory this spring, an increase in early showing traffic, and improving economic picture, that our clients with a similar home had a chance to do better than the one down the street. We advised that they hold their ground, not reduce to under 500, and in March we sold the home with multiple offers at 520,000, a more than 50,000 dollar premium to the home down the street. Our clients had asked should they reduce, and while it would have been easy for us to say yes, we advised against it and made our clients a huge amount of money. That 50,000 went well beyond a couple percentage points of commission on the broker fees, it represented almost 10 percent of the value of the house. How your broker prices a home, how they negotiate the deal, and how the handle the inspections and appraisal on a luxury home, can impact the ultimate sales price by amounts of money that double or triple the commission fee, something to think about in evaluating selling your home.

Lake Norman Home Sales Continues to Outpace 2011

As Ivester Jackson predicted last month in our newsletter, home sales in the Lake Norman and Davidson areas took a quick breather during the back to school period and picked back up this week. The combination of out of town traffic for the DNC, and news of improving conditions continue to create solid activity, with showings the past 30 days trending higher than last year at this time.

The area’s pending luxury home index stands at 78 luxury homes under contract at Lake Norman and Davidson, compared to 65 during this week in 2011. The distressed index remains low at 30 homes of 474 on the market, comparable to 31 last year. The occasional distressed luxury property has popped on the market, there just being absorbed very rapidly if they are in decent condition or in high demand areas. The ultra lux range over 1 million has cooled a little bit on the contractual side, but heavy showing activity this week will likely pop that number back up from just 11 homes under contract.

Continued Mid-Summer Activity Points to Solid 2nd Half

 If you'd like to check on the market conditions on a weekly basis bookmark/favorite www.IvesterJackson.com and visit our Market Update News Section, or follow our daily Twitter Updates at @IvesterJackson

Davidson housing market

Active Late Spring Produces Solid Summer in Davidson After lagging much of the lake area in early spring, Davidson's housing market saw a solid flurry of activity in June and July. As we forecast in late May, showing activity had picked up, and we anticipated that the summer would see a return to active conditions in the area. The area recently saw its first million dollar home go under contract for the year, a 1.3 million dollar Karl Plattner built home, under contract jointly by I.J.'s Juile Pfeffer and Emily Duke. Sold activity during the summer has improved, with 13 homes in the 500-999k range closing through mid-August, after seeing only 7 sell in the January to May period. This total, coupled with the 11 homes currently pending, should bring Davidson back in line with last year's solid totals in the luxury price range. Inventory continues to remain low, actually showing a decrease from 76 to 64 units from May to August, a result of improved sold and contractual activity. Solds in River Run lag last year, but have closed the gap as well in recent months with 4 more pending sales currently.    Showings in Davidson have trended upward and above last summer over the past 60 days, with the average luxury home seeing at least 1 showing per week in the 500-999k range, while the range over 1 million has been sporadic with the exception of the pending contract mentioned above.           Price       Actives     Pending      Shows/house   Sold Summer 2012      Sold '11 500-999k       53        10                4/month            13                           12  1m +             11          1             1 per 60 days        0                              0             Davidson Wood                      Green Built Village Area             Updated Davidson   If you'd like to check on the market conditions on a weekly basis bookmark/favorite www.IvesterJackson.com and visit our Market Update News Section, or follow our daily Twitter Updates at @IvesterJackson

North Iredell

North Iredell Sees First Deals Above 1Million, Range Below Off Slightly The North Iredell area saw its first two deals in the million dollar plus category this summer, including a near 2 million dollar transaction in Bay Crossing, One of the higher priced home deals on Lake Norman the first half of the year. Sold results in the sub-one million dollar range lagged other areas of the lake as well as last year's sold totals during the summer in this area, as lowered availability of distressed property resulted in less activity. Last summer, this area was coming off an active period in which several of the remaining builder distressed homes from the recession were being sold off. Inventory in this area nudged upward to 43 listed homes from 37 in the spring, a result of less contractual activity. Showings have also been a bit less active than last summer, with the average home being shown just over twice a month.        Price       Actives    Pending      Shows/House    Sold Summer 2012     Sold '11    500k-999k    37         3                   2.5/month             6    ;                   10 1m+             6          0                      1/month0     & nbsp;      2                       If you'd like to check on the market conditions on a weekly basis bookmark/favorite www.IvesterJackson.com and visit our Market Update News Section, or follow our daily Twitter Updates at @IvesterJackson

Lake Norman Waterfront lots

Waterfront Lot Sales Trend Upward, As Lower Housing Inventory and Improved Economic Conditions Tempt People To Build

While Lake Norman is still a long way from the days of people scouring for waterfront lots and paying sums well in excess of one million dollars for lots, the segment is once again showing signs of life. While there remain some 251 active waterfront lots on Lake Norman, 17 lots have sold on the water since May 1, and there are another 17 under contract to close this quarter. Ivester Jackson recentlly had multiple offers on a lot in Bay Crossing, and currently has a premier lot off upper Jetton Road in Cornelius under contract as well, which is listed at 995k. The improved lot activity has dominoed to local builders, many of whom are reporting upticks in activity.

Active WF Lots        Pendings            Sold Since May 1

251                        17                        17

If you'd like to check on the market conditions on a weekly basis bookmark/favorite www.IvesterJackson.com and visit our Market Update News Section, or follow our daily Twitter Updates at @IvesterJackson

Activity in The Point

Strong Spring Yields To Slightly Slower Summer at The Point In Some Ranges

Following an extremely active Spring period, activity in The Point trended slightly lower in the June to mid-August window. Early spring had seen pending contracts trend as high as 17 or more homes under contract at one point, with that number now standing at 10 homes under contract. The bulk of that drop coming in the 1-1.5m range, which had been very solid all spring. Pendings edged up slightly in the 500-999k range, while the 2m plus price point saw its first pending contract this summer in several quarters. The range below 1.5 dropped from 9 pendings in May, to 4 mid-August, with solds in that range also trailing last summer.   

Renovations have now begun on the clubhouse at the newly purchased Trump National Golf Club, the completion of which should likely lift interest in the area. Inventory levels remain at very healthy levels relative to past years, with just 48 homes listed above 500k and a slight downturn for 60-75 days can quickly reverse itself, as this quarter in Davidson shows.

Showing activity remains solid in the range under 1 million, while trending lower in the million plus category. The Point was extremely active the first 4 months of the year, and has since seen showing activity cool slightly, trending lower in the range above 1 million compared to both the spring and this time last summer.

  

Price Range     Actives     Pendings    Shows/house  Sold Summer '12   Sold  '11

500k-999k         21           5               3.25/month        3                  4

1m-2m             17           4                  2/month         5                   7

2m plus            9             1                  2/month        0                   0

See these Point area homes and others at www.IvesterJackson.com.

              Whaling Ln WF                    Longfellow Estate                   Yacht Rd WF W/Pool

If you'd like to check on the market conditions on a weekly basis bookmark/favorite www.IvesterJackson.com and visit our Market Update News Section, or follow our daily Twitter Updates at @IvesterJackson

Strong Activity Across Lake Norman Spurs Sales Increase

Continued Mid-Summer Activity Points to Solid 2nd Half 

Surging activity from the first half of 2012 has extended into the third quarter, with historically low rates, attractively discounted home prices, and slowly improving economic news all combining to spur homebuyers into the market. The MLS index of pending luxury transactions has spent much of the year ahead of last year's pace, and there are currently 89 homes under contract around the Lake Norman and Davidson areas listed over 500,000. In most areas and price segments, home sales are running slightly to well ahead of 2011, with just a few exceptions. The chart to the left indicates that total homes sold for the year in the Lake Norman and Davidson MLS areas in the luxury price points are running 33% ahead of 2011 through mid-August (280 units vs 211).

Great values on the west and north shores of Lake Norman are grabbing solid shares of the luxury market for the first time in several years, and both The Point and The Peninsula are running ahead of last year's pace in unit sales albeit showing some slowing this summer. Overall showing activity on homes has also in most cases remained ahead of last year's pace, a leading indicator that points to continued solid transaction activity through the fall, something we did not see in 2011.    

While distressed inventory continues to hit the market, its being absorbed at an improved pace, leaving the index of distressed luxury homes at 29 units, out of the some 485 luxury homes for sale in the Lake Norman and Davidson areas. This dramatic reduction in foreclosures, short sales, and relo homes, is one of the key factors in the area experiencing some pricing stability. In many areas and price segments, we're starting to see some improvement in sold prices per square foot over last year. For all the talk of foreclosure waves, we just haven't seen one, nor have we seen a large spike in defaults in our area which might signal a problem.

Inventory levels in many of the area's more popular communities also remain at low levels, with both The Point and The Peninsula reporting total on market inventory in the 45-50 unit range. Total luxury inventory in our region peaked at near 1000 units on the market in '09, and currently stands at a fairly healthy 485 total units, with 30-40 being absorbed per month. As we've said before, lower inventory plus low distressed availability equals pricing stability and upward movement.      

The ultra-lux price range above 2 million has continued to lag the balance of our covered areas and price points. At this stage last year, the area had seen 10 transactions over 2 million, this year we went into August with 5, although 4 homes recently went pending including 2 in Cornelius (one over 4 million), 1 in The Point, and another home on the water at Avalon in Sherrills Ford listed at 2.75m.

New to this report is our analysis of what's bubbling in the upper price ranges in Huntersville, as well as a breakdown of the waterfront lot/raw land segment, which is finally showing some signs of life after 3 years of inactivity.

Finally, we've added a new metric to our stable of leading indicators, we're now able to track curbside, sign call, and print ad inquiries by area code and frequency. Why might this number be important? Its telling us whether or not more people are out looking, usually well in advance of them actually turning up as a showing at a home, its also telling us how out of state traffic is trending, and right now, that's been one of the solid indicators that the second half of the year looks to be active. Our total inquiries surged over 20% from May to July, an indicator that there remain a lot of people browsing for homes. We're also encouraged that well over 50% of this inquiry traffic is coming from out of state visitors looking to move to our region.

Our firm is very focused on having the pulse of the market's momentum. Its critical to understand momentum and its impact on negotiating tactics, setting prices, properly anticipating whether activity is improving or declining, etc. Our momentum indicators which include showing activity statistics, online activity, and now drive by/marketing response activity, really help us anticipate coming market conditions in each community and price point, which sometimes can vary significantly. We're typically able to project that if those areas are trending up, so will contracts and thus sold units.     

    

188 Chatham Rd Mooresville Sold

This waterfront home built in 1999 in The Point Community at Trump National Golf Club, Charlotte closed recently for $945,000. The home with 4309 square feet sold for $219 per square foot. Current Tax value is $946,060.

New Mooresville Ice Cream parlor to open

An ice cream parlor with an old fashioned, nostalgic, Mooresville history based theme plans to open May 1 in downtown Mooresville. Looking forward to another great destination to bring the kids in Mooresville.

Click here to read the article from Mooresville Tribune

119 Lynnfield Court The Point Community Trump National Golf Club Charlotte

Location is everything in real estate and I have just listed for sale a beautiful custom built home on the gorgeous par 3 15th hole at the Trump National Golf Course Charlotte; formerly known as The Point Lake and Golf Course. Picturesque views of Lake Norman and of holes 14 and 15. This home has all the amenities the most discriminating buyers would expect.....Just steps to your boat slip to one of the nicest coves on Lake Norman in the Point Community. Select your desired membership at Trump National Golf Club Charlotte. The address for this home for sale at The Trump National Golf Course Charlotte is 119 Lynnfield Court Mooresville, NC. 

Click here to see the virtual tour

      

  

                                            

Members of the Point have voted to sell the club to Donald Trump

Members of the Point have voted to sell the club to Donald Trump. The deal is expected to close in April and the club will be renamed Trump National Golf Club Charlotte. For homeowners who are thinking of selling now is a great time to put your home on the market as there are buyers and not a lot of inventory. For buyers there are some special deals that the Trumps are bringing that I won't detail here. What a great time for buyers and sellers.... right now!!

I expect home values values to rise over time compared to the other golf course communities as the Trumps will truly make The Point Golf course better and the club to belong to in the greater Charlotte area. For the many folks who golf and are relocating to the area, their search starts based on golf courses and many compare River Run, The Peninsula, Ballantyne, The Point Lake and Golf Club, and Sailview. Trump National Golf Club Charlotte will surely attract the attention of those buyers who  are relocating to a golf course community.

Be careful choosing Realtors who do not live in The Point, they aren't familiar with the finer details of the Clubs rules and regulations and many other details such as HOA restrictions and more, information that you only get by living in The Point for years and being involved in many of the committees.

Click for a link to the Charlotte Observer article on the Trump deal

Trump's interest in The Point Lake and Golf Club on WSOC-TV9

Trump's interest in Mooresville golf club has residents on the fence

This video clip is wrong as it says Meckenburg CO, NC. The Point Lake and Golf Club is in Mooresville, which is in Iredell County. Don't trust everything you see on TV.....

Meeting with Donald Trump at The Point

He arrived to a packed house and standing ovation and spoke of his visions to make our club even better. As a full equity golf member I know Trump will make this "the club" of Charlotte and home values are destined to go up. It's a great time to buy a house here right now and become a member. Contact me for the full scoop and details on the best homes.

Donald Trump to make his case at The Point

Donald Trump and his son Eric will be making their case tonight at The Point with a meeting with the members. I am looking forward to hearing their plans. The Charlotte Observer posted an article earlier today. Here's a link http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/03/07/3077259/donald-trump-to-make-his-case.html

Private showings on non listed estate homes on Lake Norman

With Ivester Jackson, I am now able to offer a portfolio of exclusive estate homes available only through private showings with Ivester Jackson. Our current private preview opportunities include: Waterfront Estate homes in The Point Lake and Golf Club as well as other area waterfront homes These properties are not in the local MLS system. To arrange a private showings in area’s such as The Peninsula, or The Point, contact me directly.