Buyers rule with submerged home prices

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH – Buyers with cash and sellers under distress are setting the pace and price for North Carolina’s waterfront and beach home market, with the value of homes down by as much as 8 percent over the past 12 months – reports the Triangle Business Journal.

Some areas are holding up better and could experience significant appreciation over the next five years, according to data collected by geographic research firm ESRI.

Home values in Carteret County – home to Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle, among others – have held steady over the past year, ESRI data show. The values of coastal homes in Carteret are projected to grow at a faster pace than those in neighboring New Hanover and Brunswick counties through 2015.

New Hanover and Brunswick counties were two of the fastest growing areas of the state when the housing bubble was brewing. Land speculators and developers were preparing for a flood of retirees and second home buyers who were targeting the region, but many of those buyers went away when the Great Recession hit and the credit crunch closed the spigot on cash for new developments.

THANKS, TRIANGLE BUSINESS JOURNAL!

http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/08/23/newscolumn1.html