This article is courtesy of Reuters, written by Lucia Mutikani.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in October at a faster-than-expected pace to the highest in more than 2-1/2 years as buyers rushed to take advantage of a popular tax credit, a survey showed on Monday.

The National Association of Realtors said sales surged a record 10.1 percent month-over-month to an annual rate of 6.10 million units, the highest since February 2007, from a downwardly revised 5.54 million-unit pace in September.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected October sales to jump to a 5.70 million-unit pace from the previously reported 5.57 million units in September. Compared to October last year, home sales were up by a record 23.5 percent.

U.S. stock indexes extended gains on the data, while Treasury debt prices were little changed.

"Many buyers have been rushing to beat the deadline for first-time buyer credit that was scheduled to expire at the end of this month, and similarly robust sales may be occurring in November," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.

Distressed transactions accounted for 30 percent of sales last month and continued to weigh on house prices. First-time buyers made up a third of sales in October.

The national median home price fell 7.1 percent from October last year, the smallest decline in over a year, to $173,100. Homes in foreclosure typically sell for 15 to 20 percent less than traditional homes.

"Existing home sales have already bottomed. Home prices are almost there. We are seeing a less of a decline in house values," said Yun.

The housing market is slowly mending after a three-year decline, which contributed to tipping the U.S. economy into its worst recession in seven decades. Housing construction contributed to economic growth in the third quarter for the first time since 2005.

Recovery is being supported by the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, low mortgage rates and falling house prices. The government this month extended the incentive into next year and added a $6,500 credit for home owners buying a new residence. It had been due to expire on November 30.

"The tax benefits going into the housing market are working, and that's a relief," said William Larkin, portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management in Boston. "Everything is about housing and jobs right now."

The improvement in October sales was broad-based, with sales of single-family homes, the biggest segment of the market, rising 9.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.33 million units, while condominium and co-ops increased 13.2 percent to a 770,000-unit rate.

Sales were up in all four regions of the country. Prices rose 1.1 percent in the Midwest, which didn't see the same boom as the rest of the country, while declining in the other three. The rise in the Midwest was the first price increase in any region since November 2008.

Analysts are cautiously hoping a sustained housing market recovery will help to improve the psychology of households, which has been shaken by rising unemployment.

While the economy resumed growing in the July-September period after four quarters of decline, sluggish consumer spending is seen slowing the momentum.

The inventory of existing homes for sale in October fell 3.7 percent to 3.57 million units from the previous month, NAR said. At October's sales pace, that represented a supply of 7.0 months, the lowest in 2-1/2 years, from September's revised 8.0 months.

(Additional reporting by Corbett B. Daly; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

Are you or anyone you know thinking about taking advantage of the $8,000 HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT? If so call me ASAP! The incentive will expire November 30th! Industry experts are predicting that November 30, 2009 will be the largest real estate transaction day in United States history. The lenders and closing attorneys are going to be overwhelmed with first time home buyers taking advantage of this incentive. The reason I'm telling you this is because I would like to meet with anyone interested, so we may begin the process and get ahead of all the other buyers. I'm afraid if you don't start the process now you will be unable to take advantage of the tax credit. Please feel free to call with any questions and I appreciate your referrals!

Please visit the following link for more information about the tax credit.

Federal Housing Tax Credit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of previously owned U.S. homes notched their fastest pace in nearly two years in July, an industry survey showed on Friday, the strongest sign yet that housing was pulling out of a three-year slump.

The National Association of Realtors said that sales jumped 7.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.24 million units, the highest since August 2007, beating market expectations for a 5 million unit pace. Sales were at a 4.89 million pace in June.

July's percentage increase was the largest monthly gain since the series started in 1999 and marked the fourth straight monthly advance. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, the NAR said.

U.S. stock indexes rallied on the data, while Treasury debt prices extended losses as investors viewed the report as another indication that the recession that started in 2007 was close to or ending.

"Existing home sales data show that we are moving in the right direction," said Kevin Flanagan, fixed income strategist for Global Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley in Purchase, New York.

Compared to July last year, sales rose 5.0 percent. The improvement in sales in July was broad based with single-family home sales rising 6.5 percent to annual rate of 4.61 million units and multifamily dwellings surging 12.5 percent to a 630,000 unit rate.

"The housing market has decisively turned for the better. We are bouncing back," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told reporters.

Housing data continue to indicate the sector is starting to turn after a three-year slump, but high unemployment threatens the budding recovery as many homeowners continue to lose their properties.

A report from the Mortgage Bankers Association on Thursday showed late homeloan payments jumped to a record high in the second quarter, with almost one in eight homeowners delinquent or in the process of foreclosure.

The inventory of existing homes for sale in July rose 7.3 percent to 4.09 million units from the previous month, and represented a 9.4 months' supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from June, the NAR said.

The national median home price was $178,400 in July, down 15.1 percent from the same period last year, weighed down by distressed sales as they typically sell for 15 to 20 percent less than traditional homes.

This story is courtesy of Alan Zibel of the AP

WASHINGTON – New U.S. home sales rose by the largest amount in more than eight years last month, in another sign the housing market is finally bouncing back from the worst downturn in decades.

The Commerce Department said Monday that sales rose 11 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, from an upwardly revised May rate of 346,000.

It was the strongest sales pace since November 2008 and exceeded the forecasts of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who expected a pace of 360,000 units. The last time sales rose so dramatically was in December 2000.

Sales have risen for three straight months. The median sales price of $206,200, however, was down 12 percent from $234,300 a year earlier and down nearly 6 percent from $219,000 in May.

The report is another encouraging sign that the beleaguered housing sector is finally coming back to life. Last Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported that home resales posted a monthly increase of 3.6 percent in June.

There were 281,000 new homes for sale at the end of June, down more than 4 percent from May. At the current sales pace, that represents 8.8 months of supply — the lowest level since October 2007.

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Call today to see how PRG can help you with all your real estate needs.

Raleigh, N.C. – Ken Atkins, executive director for Wake County Economic Development (WCED) (www.raleigh-wake.org), has announced that Raleigh was named one of the healthiest housing markets of 2009 by Builder Magazine. The publication analyzed 75 housing markets across the country and ranked them based on their population trends, job growth – nearly five percent annually – home values and rate building permits. Raleigh was ranked sixth by the magazine with a total of 11,386 total building permits in 2008. The city also has one of the highest rates of population growth of any top metro market in the country over the last five years.

“We are excited that Raleigh has been named one of the healthiest housing markets for 2009,” Atkins said. “Several companies are looking at Wake County as a possible location for corporate expansion and relocation, and this recognition will provide site selectors with another incentive for moving here.”

About Wake County Economic Development:
Wake County Economic Development (WCED), a program of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, is the primary economic development organization for Wake County and its 12 municipalities. WCED hosts clients evaluating Wake County for possible facility locations each year and facilitates dozens of corporate expansions, resulting in new jobs and capital investment for Raleigh and Wake County. Services available to companies that are considering relocating or expanding in Wake County include economic and demographic research, site and building inventory searches, visitation itineraries, community tours, corporate executive and employee briefings, employee relocation assistance, and post-relocation services. In both 2002 and 2003, Site Selection magazine recognized WCED as one of the top ten economic development organizations in the United States. For more information about WCED, please visit www.raleigh-wake.org.

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina’s residential real estate market apparently is improving, at least temporarily.

The number of home foreclosure notices in January declined 7.3 percent from December's volume and was 29.3 percent lower than in January 2008, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. The California-based company tracks foreclosure data across the United States.

Nationally, the number of Americans on the verge of losing their homes also fell from December to  January, but was still up from the same month a year ago. The numbers would have been higher if not for efforts to forestall the foreclosure process.

In North Carolina, 2,386 properties received at least one foreclosure-related notice. North Carolina, which ranks 10th nationally in population, ranks 33rd in foreclosures, RealtyTrac reported.

In the U.S., the number of homes involved in foreclosure in January fell 10 percent from December. However, the total is 10 percent higher than a year earlier.

Contributing to the monthly drop was a decision by government-controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to suspend foreclosure sales during the winter holidays. Plus, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist brokered a deal in which lenders in that state agreed to a 45-day halt to new foreclosure petitions.

But those efforts may not have much of an impact in the long run.

"If you don't do anything to get to the core problem, all you're doing is extending the housing downturn," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president for marketing. "It's only a good idea if there's a corresponding program that dramatically restructures hundreds of thousands of loans."

Meanwhile, a federal regulator on Wednesday urged more than 800 thrift institutions to suspend all foreclosures while President Barack Obama's top economic officials develop plans to keep borrowers in their homes.

The Obama administration plans to spend $50 billion to combat foreclosures of owner-occupied, middle-class homes, but has not developed or is not divulging few details. An announcement of the administration's housing plans is expected in the coming weeks.

Testifying before House lawmakers on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the government would provide incentives to "try to induce economically sensible restructuring of mortgages," but offered no specifics.

More than 2 million American homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year, and that number could soar as high as 10 million in the coming years, depending on the severity of the recession, according to a report last month by Credit Suisse.

The RealtyTrac report said lenders repossessed nearly 67,000 properties in January as the worst recession in decades, falling home values and stricter lending standards continue to sap the U.S. real estate market. That was up from more than 45,000 repossessed properties in January 2008, but down from 79,000 in December.

Geithner and Shaun Donovan, the new secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, met with officials from housing and other nonprofit groups, top bank executives and industry lobbyists Wednesday to hear proposals for how the new programs to fight foreclosures should be structured.

After the meeting, John Taylor, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer group in Washington, said he was optimistic the new administration would agree to use government dollars to buy up mortgages and remove them from complex mortgage-linked securities and restructure them at more affordable levels.

He said support from government and industry officials for that idea was a "giant step forward" compared with opposition to such an approach by the Bush administration.

The Obama administration is also expected to back a push in Congress – opposed by the mortgage industry – to let bankruptcy judges alter the terms of primary home loans. Earlier this week, Obama said it "makes no sense" that judges are not allowed to do so. The mortgage industry argues that this prohibition allows lenders to charge lower rates.

In the RealtyTrac report, Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida had the nation's top foreclosure rates. In Nevada, one in every 76 homes received a foreclosure, while the number was one of every 173 in California. At No. 5, Oregon, formerly a bastion of housing stability, made its first appearance close to the top of the list of foreclosure hot spots.

Rounding out the top 10 were Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Idaho and Ohio. Among metro areas, Merced, Calif., was first, with one in every 59 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. It was followed by Las Vegas and the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida.

For the full article

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/03/AR2008120302889.html

Twenty years from now, the era of unchecked urban sprawl in Raleigh could be a distant memory.

New homes would be smaller and built close together in urban centers and along major roads. Getting around on foot, bike or mass transit would be not only possible, but preferable to going by car.

That is the bold new vision for Raleigh that city planners will introduce this week. The vision is part of an updated version of the city's comprehensive plan, a document whose bland title belies how dramatically it could affect Raleigh residents and businesses.

If approved by the City Council, the plan would be the vision against which future development in the city would be judged.

"It's just sending a strong message that we want sprawl to end," said Mitchell Silver, the city's planning director.

The draft being released Monday calls for Raleigh to funnel 60 percent of its growth over the next two decades -- about 72,000 residential units -- to downtown, seven urban centers and a number of major road corridors.

The 380-page plan will debut Wednesday evening at the convention center. Residents will be able to talk to the plan's authors and study maps showing how different areas of the city would be affected.

The plan's goal of encouraging urban living and creating more transit options is not revolutionary. Most American cities are moving in that direction. But moving so aggressively would be a major shift for Raleigh, a place where urban sprawl is rampant and reliance on the automobile is nearly total.

Rampant growth

Over the last 25 years, thousands of new residents have flocked to the city to live in master-planned subdivisions on the edge of the city, such as Wakefield Plantation and Falls River. That's a pattern Raleigh now wants to move away from.

Although most residents expect downtown to become a center for urban living, promoting intense development in other areas of the city could be controversial with some residents who live in surrounding neighborhoods.

Silver said the plan is an acknowledgement that continuing the current development patterns is not sustainable.

"If we do nothing ... [the growth] will continue just to spread across the region like peanut butter," he said. "We can either intervene and shape the growth or not intervene and continue to sprawl."

The current comprehensive plan, last updated in 1989, is widely considered to be overly complex, difficult to interpret and a relic of a time when concerns over growth were minimal.

The city's population has increased more than 70 percent to about 368,000 since the last update, and more than 200,000 new residents are expected to arrive by 2030. Raleigh has annexed 56 square miles since 1989, and it now encompass more than 140 square miles.

The new blueprint for growth reflects Raleigh residents' own growing realization that retaining the city's high quality of life may require a major change of course.

Over the last year, the city held a series of workshops where it asked residents what they wanted Raleigh to look like in 2030.

The workshops, held when a drought was straining the city's water supply and high gas prices were punishing drivers, elicited hundreds of comments. Many raised concerns about whether Raleigh's current growth patterns are sustainable.

The new plan tries to coordinate the city's approval of new development with the stress those developments will have on the city's natural environment, road infrastructure and water and sewer capacity.

It includes a future land-use map that designates the type of development the city expects to see on every piece of property in Raleigh.

Land along major road corridors and in the urban growth centers is specified for high-density projects. Development of the city's eastern edge, where much of Raleigh's remaining 20,000 acres of undeveloped land is located, is expected to occur at lower densities.

The plan won't change the current zoning for any piece of property, but it will be used to determine whether that zoning should change in the future.

Current plan conflicts

The current plan has been amended so many times over the last 20 years that it now includes conflicting ideas about how particular areas of the city should grow. This has frustrated both developers and residents who want to know how the area around their home or building will change in the future.

"There's a lack of clarity in the current plan," said Mack Paul, a lawyer who frequently represents developers with business before the city.

Paul said tools such as the future land-use map can help both developers and surrounding neighbors determine whether a project would overburden the surrounding streets.

Once adopted, the plan's success or failure will largely depend on current and future elected officials following its advice.

The plan offers a map to Raleigh becoming a transit-friendly city, but it doesn't guarantee that money will be spent to build the commuter rails, streetcars and bus routes necessary to make that happen.

Silver said residents shouldn't overlook the plan's importance. It offers Raleigh a way forward, and if elected officials want to deviate from the plan, they'll have to give a rationale for doing so.

This full article can be found at http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1314723.html

This sentence — or one like it — can be found in almost any prospectus: "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."

• Las Vegas sits in first place because of its broad-based record of economic expansion. It was among the three fastest-growing markets in population, employment and income during the past five years, the only metro to do that well in all of those categories.
• Raleigh, which is second in the overall standings, picked up considerable steam between 2005 and 2007. Its population soared 9.6 percent over that span, outgaining all other metros. It also led the nation in private-sector employment growth during the same two years.
• No. 3 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., has been a powerful population magnet. It set the pace for all of America in the past half-decade, growing by 24.4 percent. No other market increased its population by more than 21.2 percent between 2002 and 2007.

• Population: Cape Coral-Fort Myers was the long-range winner, enjoying the strongest population growth over the three lengthiest time spans. Raleigh was powerful over the short haul, posting the fastest growth rates for intervals of two years (2005-07) and one year (2006-07).
• Private sector employment: The unlikely leader for job growth over periods of five and four years was McAllen-Edinburg, Texas, an area of extensive poverty along the Mexican border. Raleigh was the best for three and two years, New Orleans for one year.
• Per capita income: New Orleans scored a clean sweep, registering the fastest rates of income growth for all five time spans. The devastation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 actually increased the per capita income in New Orleans, as tens of thousands of poor people fled the area and never moved back.
• Gross metropolitan product: Baton Rouge, La., was the leader for three different intervals (five, three and two years) in this category, which measured growth in the output of goods and services. The other top markets were Las Vegas for a four-year period and Wichita, Kans., for one year.

Grand Rapids, sixth-worst in the overall standings, is the other Michigan entry at the tail end of bizjournals' list. The five Ohio markets in the bottom seven are Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton, Cleveland and Akron.

The full article may be read at

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27647122

The subdivision of Preston, where prices are up 3.5 percent over last year, reigns as the area’s übersuburb. The northwest Cary neighborhood was bankrolled in the 1990s by Jim Goodnight, founder of software giant SAS, and supersizes the standard suburban amenities: Most lots are at least a quarter-acre, double the size of newer developments, and prices approach $500,000. Parents can choose from a roster of lauded private and public schools. John Minicucci, a technology analyst, moved his family to Preston in May after stints in New York and Vancouver, B.C., and chose the neighborhood in part because it is already built out; it doesn’t run the risk of being flooded with discounted properties because of overbuilding. “Since this area didn’t really experience the boom, it won’t be as susceptible to tanking,” he says. And he’s loving perks like abundant tee times. Like more than 60 percent of Preston residents, Minicucci belongs to the local country club, which hosts 54 holes of championship golf, two tennis facilities and three swimming pools.

This is an exert taken from an article writen by By Brad Reagan and Elizabeth O'Brien. To view the full article click the link below.

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/home-prices-now-for-the-good-news.html;_ylc=X3oDMTF0NTRjZTFlBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDOTc2MjA0NjUEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNob21lLXByb2Nlcy1nb29kLW5ld3M-

What is happening with inventory and list prices?

Second quarter inventory increased 25% compared to 2Q/07 and the average list price increased 1% to just over $368,500.

What is going on with closings and the average sales price?

The number of closings in June decreased 35% compared to 6/07 closings. The average sales price of all housing increased 1% during the month of June. The average price of a re-sale increased 1.2%.

How long are houses taking to sell?

The average days on market for closed sales in Wake County during the first six months of 2008 was 85 days. This was an increase from the 70 average seen during the first six months of 2007.

Are house prices appreciating?

Our current rate of house appreciation is significantly superior to the average rate seen nationally. These rates are calculated by comparing the two most recent sales prices of the same house and should not be confused with the rise or fall of the average sales price in a given area.

What was the highest sales price during the month?

A house closed for just under $2,000,000 in the Regency Park development in Cary.

By Brian Clark Howard

Granite countertops are red-hot — and not just because of their soaring popularity and high resale value. It turns out that some granite quarried for furnishings brings with it relatively high levels of uranium, which is not only radioactive but releases radon gas as it decays.

As the New York Times reports, sales of granite countertops have exploded tenfold in the last decade, as has the number of different styles now available. At the same time, a debate has been simmering about how safe the attractive surfaces actually are.

There have been a number of reports of people observing above-background levels of radiation coming from their kitchens, and the EPA has received a growing number of complaints, according to the Times. Officials have noted that some exotic and striated granite varieties from Brazil and Namibia, in particular, have been most suspect.

The Marble Institute of America calls any worries about radiation from granite countertops "ludicrous," saying that any possible levels are insignificant compared with background radiation from space and the Earth's crust, or even X-rays and smoke detectors. Yet one person told the paper her house had radon levels of 100 picocuries per liter of air because of her granite countertops, when the EPA recommends action if radon levels exceed 4 picocuries per liter.

Typically, people receive 360 millirem of radiation from background levels a year, while a "hot" granite countertop might add just a fraction of a millirem per hour, and that's if you are very close to it.

Still, the precautionary principle suggests considering other, and often less pricey, alternatives. What the industry fails to point out is that most public experts agree there is no safe level of radiation — all radiation has the potential to damage cells, and cumulative, lifetime exposure is often cited as a major cause of many cancers, as well as potentially aging itself. (So even though the fraction contributed by countertops is likely very small, it may be worth thinking about.)

Karl Z. Morgan, often called the founder of the field of health physics, is famous for arguing that exposing DNA to any ionizing radiation is like letting a "madman loose in a library." According to the EPA, living in a home with 4 picocuries per liter of radon in the air carries about the same cancer risk as smoking a half a pack of cigarettes per day. While most granite countertops are not likely to emit that much, it should give all those parents who tell their children not to smoke a little something to think about.

A big point that this recent New York Times article failed to mention is that granite quarrying, processing and shipment also carries a sizable environmental footprint. Not only is the (obviously) nonrenewable resource mined in destructive open pits, which can then leach toxins into surface waters, but what is heavier than rocks to ship around the planet? Granite is surprisingly easy to break, so a lot can get wasted. Even when you get your countertop in place, it may require frequent chemical treatments.

For many reasons, it does make sense to be different and forget granite. Check out our pages of gorgeous and green countertops from recycled glass, concrete and even paper; to renewable bamboo; and repurposed materials. Not only can you get a great look, but you'll have a nice conversation piece, and something unique, to share with family and guests.

"Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine has listed Raleigh as the country's second best place to live in 2008, behind only Houston.

The city is "a work in progress," Kiplinger's says in its July issue, which will hit newsstands on June 10 and is currently online. It's long been a good place to work, but big-city cultural amenities have been lacking.

That's changing, Kiplinger's says. Raleigh is increasingly becoming a more exciting place to live, and the excitement of living there is catching up with the benefits provided by the local economy.

In particular, Kiplinger's cites the renaissance of downtown as the reason why 2008 marks "the turning point" for the Capital City. The magazine gives as examples the new Raleigh Convention Center and the downtown RBC Plaza, which are both set to open this year.

Also cited are many of the factors frequently cited when a Triangle-area city makes a "best places to live" list: a relatively low cost of living, a high percentage of workers with university degrees, and strong economic growth.

Kiplinger's says its list encompasses cities "offering strong economies, abundant jobs, reasonable living costs - and fun things to do."

The Martin Prosperity Institute, an economic think tank, compiled the list."