Marti Hampton

July has proven to be a good month for those looking to purchase a home or refinance an existing home loan in the Triangle area. Long-term mortgage rates dropped again this past week to the lowest levels ever recorded. The week ending July 22nd, 2010 showed a decrease in thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages from 4.57 percent to 4.56 percent. Mortgage rates this low have not been seen since 1971. For those not interested in a thirty-year fixed-mortgage, but would rather tackle a 15-year fixed-mortgage, an interest rate of 4.03 percent was the going rate, which has not been seen since 1991.

The down side to mortgage rates continuing to drop means it is a result of decreased confidence in the current strength of our economy. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fell by 5.1 percent in June, marking the second straight month for a decline. However, this was to be expected as a result of the home buyer’s tax credit coming to an end.

The good news is the Triangle area is faring better than other areas in the nation with overall decreased home sales. Buyers in the Raleigh-Durham area closed on 2,676 homes during this month, which is 7 percent higher than the number of homes sold in May and 13 percent higher than the homes sold in June of 2009.

North Carolina and the Triangle area have been noticed a lot in the media recently for being top in the nation among many things, but the recent attention that North Carolina is receiving is not the best news. A new study just released by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has ranked North Carolina 10th in the nation for obesity. A total of 29.4% of adults living in North Carolina are considered obese, and this number is up a whole percentage point from last year’s study. Last year North Carolina was the 12th most obese state with 28.3% of adults being obese. When it comes to men and woman, the women in North Carolina are heavier with 29.7% of woman being obese.

Not only are adults in North Carolina suffering from obesity, but so are children from ages 10 through 17, where 18.6 % of them are obese, ranking North Carolina children 11th in the country for obesity. United States as a whole has two-thirds of the states whose adult obesity rate is greater than 25%. In order to determine the obesity rate in the United State, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted phone surveys and calculated residents BMI’S based on the height and weight given.

If you are looking to lose weight or stay fit, consider moving to a town that has plenty of activities to keep the family active. Now is the time to make your move. Contact Marti Hampton and her team at RE/MAX One Realty to help you find your dream home.

In this downturn economy, it is reassuring that so many companies both large and small are looking to call the Triangle area and North Carolina home. Software company Microsoft is in the market to build a large data storage center facility, and is considering an industrial park site in Alamance County. Pending legislation in North Carolina’s General Assembly could help businesses benefit from a new economic incentive if the legislation passes.

Microsoft is not alone in considering the move to North Carolina to take advantage of this new legislation should it pass. Fidelity Investments is also looking to gain the advantage. If Fidelity chooses to move another data storage facility to the area, that would be their second data center here in the Triangle area.

The state of North Carolina would require Fidelity Investments to invest at least $75 million to qualify for the proposed state tax exemptions, and Microsoft Corporation would need to invest $225 million. Microsoft should have no problems meeting the minimum $225 million investment, since the data center they opened in the Chicago area in 2009 reportedly cost $550 million.

Not only would the proposed legislation benefit data centers but also a paper manufacturing plant and a turbine manufacturing plant that are also considering building in the North Carolina area.

More jobs keep opening in North Carolina and the Triangle area. Take advantage of a growing job market and make your move to relocate now. If you are interested in buying a home in the Triangle area, now is the time to contact Marti Hampton and let her and her team at RE/MAX One Realty help you find the perfect home.

The Economic Stimulus Bill will finally put stimulus money to work this summer in the Triangle area and across the nation. President Obama recently visited Columbus, Ohio to promote what the Administration is calling “Recovery Summer,” and to visit the 10,000th road project funded by the Economic Stimulus Bill. The stimulus dollars for construction are improving communities and putting thousands of construction crews to work.

It is estimated that the stimulus spending will increase this summer, and recently the Obama Administration published a report highlighting a few projects that are in the works.

• Six times as many highway projects will be under way this July as were under way last July.
• More than 2,800 water projects will be under way this summer, compared with only 129 last summer.
• About 82,000 homes will be weatherized vs. only 3,000 last summer.
• Nearly 9,000 projects will be under way in July in national parks, compared with 101 last July.

When the home buyers tax credit came to an end in April, so did the large amount of home sales it seems, with the Triangle area also being impacted. Many experts had predicted that there would be a decline in home sales, but did not predict that it would be as big a drop as it has been.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales fell a drastic 30% in May. Mike Larson, a real estate analyst for Weiss Research sales say, “Sales fell off a cliff after the tax credit expired. It’s the biggest monthly decline ever and the index is at its lowest since NAR began tracking in 2001.” However, economists do not seem too concerned by this drastic drop in the sale of homes and feel that once the economic recovery returns in full force the housing market will once again heat back up. Economic experts expect the job market to begin to recover later this year, and expect to see the housing market recover right along with it.

Currently the market is very favorable for the purchasing of a new home with much lower home prices, and low mortgage rates.

If you are interested in buying a home in the Triangle area, now is the time to contact Marti Hampton and let her and her team at RE/MAX One Realty help you find a perfect home in Raleigh or the surrounding area.