Volume 1, Issue 8 March, 2007
 
The Real Estate Report
Local Government News Impacting the Real Estate Industry

 

 

Fellow REALTORS®:

The North Carolina Association of REALTORS® has launched a comprehensive statewide public education campaign entitled "Stop the NC Home Tax." Members working in the Raleigh market may have already seen signs with this slogan in downtown intersections. As of yesterday, NCAR has commenced radio, TV spots and direct mailings to the public to explain the transfer tax.

A website has been designed by NCAR to help educate both Realtors and their clients; www.itsabadidea.org. Learn about this important issue and take the time to understand the transfer tax and have a knowledgeable response when your clients ask questions.

In the next few months, GCHAR is hoping to have a representative from NCAR address our membership, in the interim if you have questions, please contact:

Julie Woodson
Director of Public Affairs
NC Association of REALTORS®
jwoodson@ncrealtors.org

Best,

Mairead Garvey
Chair, Legislative Affairs Committee
Greater Chapel Hill Association of REALTORS®

Local Government

Carrboro Moratorium
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen will hold a public forum on March 27th at 7:30pm to consider adopting a moratorium on residential development in the Northern Study Area. Aldermen have gone ahead with the formation of the Northern Study Area Plan Implementation Review Committee to make recommendations for future development in the area.
For the Chapel Hill Herald’s coverage of this issue, email jdervin@carolinachamber.org.

Council Considering Halting Development in Northwest Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill Town Council devoted a work session to discuss issues facing Northwest Chapel Hill centering on the intersection of Weaver Dairy Road and MLK, Jr. Boulevard. Council decided to form a taskforce to make recommendations for future development in the area, which could be accompanied by a development moratorium pending advice from the town staff and a public hearing set for May 7th. Council is concerned over traffic congestion in the area, pedestrian safety and the area’s appearance as an entranceway into Chapel Hill. Council also discussed ways to rezone the area, ranging from whole scale downzoning to providing greater specificity as to what projects council would like to have proposed. Council agreed to allow Crosland’s Residences at Chapel Hill North to move through the town’s planning process, but effectively stopped the Union Station project by approving a downzoning land encompassing the project. For full story, click here or here.

Greenbridge Special Use Permit Approved
Greenbridge’s special use permit was unanimously approved by the Chapel Hill Town Council. Previous concerns over building height and affordable housing requirements did not hold up approval of the project. Council rezoned Greenbridge’s parcel to allow for the taller structures, 10 and 7 stories respectively. Developers agreed to seek LEED Gold certification, which would make it the first project in the state to achieve such distinction. 15 affordable units will be built on-site. Market-rate condominiums will cost between $350,000 and $1 million. Construction is set to begin this summer and will be completed by summer of 2009. For the News and Observer's coverage of this story, click here.
For the Chapel Hill Herald’s coverage of this issue, email jdervin@carolinachamber.org.

 

Regulation

Senator Kinnaird Proposes Energy Efficiency Legislation
Senator Ellie Kinnaird (Orange/Person Counties) filed a bill that would allow the Town of Chapel Hill to reward developers for energy efficiency. Under the proposed bill, developers who construct new development projects or redevelop existing ones in a fashion that makes a significant reduction to total energy consumption “based on generally recognized standards” would be eligible for land-use development incentives featuring a density bonus. Senator Kinnaird is also supporting legislation that would require state, University and community college buildings to be constructed using recognized energy efficiency standards.
Read the Chapel Hill Efficiency Incentives Bill
Read the Energy Conservation in State Buildings Bill

NOTE:
You can find all proposed, newly enacted and existing North Carolina legislation at http://www.ncleg.net/. Search fields on the right hand side of the screen allow you to look up bills by key words, bill numbers or by state legislator. This is a convenient way to check up on your local State Representative or State Senator.

 

Development

New Belvedere Project on N.C. 54
Chapel Hill Town Council has not officially approved the Woodmont mixed-used development at the corner of Barbee Chapel Rd. and N.C. 54, but developers are already looking at future projects in the area. Carol Ann Zinn is proposing the Belvedere development, a 85-unit condominium project off N.C. 54 across from Downing Creek. The project will feature luxury units and could potentially be linked to Meadowmont through pedestrian greenways. Though the town council has not discussed the project, concerns over traffic congestion and projects appearance as the gateway into town are likely to arise.

 

The Triangle

New Home Prices in Orange County up $100K
The price of new homes sold in Orange County jumped nearly $100,000 during the fourth quarter of 2006 in comparison to that same time period in 2005. The median value was $422,000 in 2006 in comparison to $330,000 in 2005. While new homes price continues to rise, the price of single-family homes re-sold in Orange County was lower. The median value for 2005 was $265,000 and $245,000 in 2006. Increased construction costs, larger home size and limited supply of available land to develop are contributing to the higher cost of new homes in the county.
 Email jdervin@carolinachamber.org for the Herald Sun’s coverage of this topic.

Chapel Hill and Chatham County Growth Projections
The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization is predicting that by 2035 Chapel Hill’s population will grow by 55 percent to around 81,000 and job creation will have grown by 107 percent. The same study also shows Eastern Chatham County’s growth potential between 115,000 to 150,000. Chapel Hill officials encouraged the report’s creators to re-evaluate the job creation figures for Chatham County while Chatham Commissioners have been vocal that the MPO’s projections are too high for Chatham’s population. Chapel Hill Long Range Planning and Transportation Coordinator David Bonk noted that projections for Chapel Hill from the mid-1980’s have proven to be accurate within 10 percent of the actual figures. For full story, click here. For a slideshow on growth projections, click here.

Durham Downzones Border with Orange County
Durham County Commissioners voted to rezone 1,412 acres of residential land in western Durham to allow only one unit per two acres. The area is on the Orange County border between Mount Sinai Road, Erwin Road and N.C. 751. Commissioners made the move to prevent the type of suburban sprawl that the county has seen on its eastern border with Wake County. Additionally, the area in question rests outside Durham’s urban growth boundary, preventing it from receiving sewer service.

Triangle Home Sales
February 2007 Average Closing Price

Orange - $322,695
Durham - $201,298
Wake - $264,355

 

 

 

Number of Single & Multi-family Homes Sold
February 2007

Orange - 96
Durham - 295
Wake - 1,285

 


 

Source data from www.trianglemls.com
We are working on locating Chatham County figures and hope to include them in future editions of this report.

State

Traffic Congestion will be Major Future Concern for State
Traffic congestion is expected to double in the state within the next 25 years. Daily traffic counts during that same period in the Triangle are expected to rise from 100,000 to 170,000 vehicles. The information was a part of a report by the John Locke Foundation on public transportation funding. I-40 congestion through Research Triangle Park continues to be the center of the problem in the triangle, along with I-540 construction in Raleigh. For full story, click here.

 

National

Home Builders and REALTORS Lower 2007 Projections
National confidence in new home projects fell between February and March. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index dropped for the first time since September. The index measures home builder confidence in new sales and is an indicator of future growth. The numbers this month fell from 39 to 36. A mark under 50 shows a lack of confidence in the market. The National Association of REALTORS also forecasted that new home sales in the U.S. will fall 10 percent this year and sales of previously-owned homes will drop 0.9 percent. The downturn in confidence is most likely linked to the recent surge in defaults on subprime mortgages for buyers.
Email jdervin@carolinachamber.org for a copy for additional coverage from the N&O

 

Links

Town of Chapel Hill
www.townofchapelhill.org

Town of Carrboro
www.townofcarrboro.org

Town of Hillsborough
www.ci.hillsborough.nc.us

Orange County
www.co.orange.nc.us

Chatham County
www.co.chatham.nc.us

TMLS Statistics
http://trianglemls.com/tmls-stats.html