This Month in Real Estate - Brevard and National

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April 2012  Market Update

Now three months into 2012, both the housing market and the overall economy are improving at modest rates. These improvements have inspired confidence in consumers, demonstrated by a 9.2% increase in pending home sales in February from the year prior.

Both home prices and sales are expected to increase in 2012.  Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, stated, “Falling visible and shadow inventory [bank-held properties], combined with a dearth of new-home and apartment construction during the past three years, assure that rents will continue to rise, with likely home price increases in 2012.”

As rents continue to rise, buying becomes a more and more attractive option as home affordability, or the percent of income it takes to pay the mortgage, continues to be among the most favorable in history. Trulia’s Winter 2012 Buy vs. Rent Index, which measures the relative cost of renting compared to asking prices of homes found that in 98% major metropolitan areas sampled, it was more affordable to buy than to rent.

Home Sales

In Millions

Home sales dipped 0.9% in February to 4.59 million units, yet are 8.8% higher from a year ago. A strengthening economy is improving consumer confidence with an increasing amount of people in the market. Additionally, as the market shows signs of improvement, more people are feeling the urgency to buy while prices and interest rates are still at some of the most affordable levels in history.

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Home Price

In Thousands

After slipping a bit at the beginning of the year, median home prices rose to $156,600, up 0.3% from a year ago. NAR President Moe Veissi said, “People realize that home ownership is an investment in their future. Given an apparent overcorrection [dropping prices as an overreaction to market conditions] in most areas, over the long term home prices have nowhere to go but up.”

Inventory- Month's Supply

In Months

Housing inventory rose 4.3% in February to 2.43 million homes, representing a 6.4-month supply, up from 6.0 in January. There are several factors driving this increase in the inventory of homes. First, banks have settled major lawsuits regarding fraudulent foreclosure practices with state governments, which has enabled them to start moving many foreclosures off their balance sheets and into the market.  Pending sales are up, and home building is starting to show signs of life again after three years of low new-housing construction.

Source: National Association of Realtors

Interest Rates

30-year fixed mortgages continued to improve home affordability by dropping to 3.89% in February, the lowest on record since 1971. Indications are that these rates may have begun to find a bottom as well, as they have shown rising levels in Freddie Mac’s weekly index, adding to the urgency to buy a home now while these rates continue at record lows.

  

This Month's Video

Topics For Home Owners, Buyers & Sellers

Home buying is often exciting, but packing up and moving is almost always stressful. Below are a few tips to help make the move a smooth one.

• Special Boxes for Special Items. Dish barrels help protect dishware, and long flat boxes help protect artwork. Wardrobe boxes, which have a metal bar to hang clothes on, can simplify and speed up packing your closet. 
• Paper, the Secret Weapon. Packing paper, or unprinted newsprint, can be used several different ways. Use it to protect fragile items or crunch it up to use as padding. Remember, ink on regular newspaper can rub off and stain. Use Bubble Wrap for extra- delicate items.
• Tape It Securely. Masking and duct tape don’t stick to cardboard as well as brown packing tape.
• Tape It Quickly. Tape guns help you assemble boxes faster.
• Mark It Clearly. Clearly label boxes. Marking the sides instead of the top is best as the tops are covered when boxes are stacked. 
• Protect the Big Items. Protect furniture with pads and put mattresses in plastic bags to prevent damage during the trip.
• Lighten the Load. The help of a dolly or handcart can save your back and speed up the moving process.

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Brevard Brewery Opening!

Kyle Williams is the owner of Brevard Brewing Company, which will open Monday.

Buy PhotoMIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS By Gary Glancy Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

Brevard Brewing Co.

Where: 63 E. Main St., in downtown Brevard
Hours: 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 2 p.m. to midnight (or later) Friday and Saturday
Beers: American IPA, American red ale, American premium lager, Munich dunkel and Bohemian pilsner
Prices: $3.50 per 16-ounce glass (64-ounce take-home growlers coming soon)

On the Web: www.brevard-brewing.com or www.facebook.com/BrevardBrewing

Amid much fanfare and anticipation, Brevard Brewing Co. is set to tap into the community's thirst for craft beer when it opens its downtown doors Monday afternoon.

Owner and brewer Kyle Williams is putting off the final touches on his new establishment — more artwork, additional seating, live music — so he can open as soon as possible and start pouring the beer.

"People are excited — they've been waiting for months, and they want me to open as much as I want to open," said Williams, who added that Brevard Mayor Jimmy Harris called him Monday offering support. "Everybody from bar and restaurant owners, they can't wait to get a keg for their place, and the local people want to come here to drink. Everybody is excited."

With nearly 600 "likes" already on Facebook, BBC's arrival as the county's first brewery comes at a time when craft beer is abuzz in Western North Carolina. Hendersonville's first brewery, Southern Appalachian — which was required by a previous law to open as a private club last year — has more than 5,000 members as it approaches its first anniversary celebration next weekend.

Asheville, meanwhile, has been voted "Beer City USA" three years running in an online poll, and two of the three largest microbreweries in the country — Sierra Nevada and New Belgium — have chosen WNC for their respective East coast expansions.

"For an area that's surrounded by craft beer, and the fact that you have two major companies coming here, it's nice that Brevard can now be a part of that," said Madrid Zimmerman, executive director of Heart of Brevard, which focuses on downtown economic development.

Zimmerman said her nonprofit sees BBC as a "magnet" to attract other like-minded businesses that distinguish a community with their locally made products. For a place like Brevard that relies heavily on outdoors-related tourism, the brewery will give visitors an added reason to come downtown.

"Being able to have our own craft beer here, especially in the downtown, is a good signal to send to those people that do come to enjoy our outdoors, because many of them don't make it to the downtown," she said. "They get to the Pisgah Forest intersection and they see the Walmart, they see the Pizza Hut, they see a few signs that say ‘Pisgah Forest Ranger Station/Cradle of Forestry' and they go in that direction, and they actually see some ‘city limits' signs for Brevard and they go, ‘Oh, this is it?' So for us, anything that can help us connect the outdoor recreation to the downtown is really important, and this is one way to do it."

The brewery is at 63 E. Main St., between Kiwi Gelato and Brevard Delicatessen, in the space formerly occupied by Jason's Main Street Grill and then Docks restaurant.

Williams, a former brewer at Pisgah Brewing Co. in Black Mountain, said he envisions a laid-back atmosphere at the tasting room — "someplace you can come after work and unwind."

There will be five beers on draft — an American IPA, American red ale, American premium lager, Munich dunkel and BBC's flagship, Bohemian pilsner, a lower-alcohol brew that reflects Williams' passion for European-style lagers.

"It's my favorite beer," he said. "It's a good session lager — it's light enough to drink all day long but it's got a ton of flavor in it, so it's a very well-rounded beer in that respect."

Williams said the pilsner strikes a balance between the two extremes that American brewers continue to trend toward: Lighter, watered-down, adjunct-filled products from the brewing giants, and super-hopped, high-alcohol ales from the microbreweries, "where if you have one of them it knocks you on your butt, and then you're done."

"I'm trying to get something good and drinkable and tasty, but also nice and light," he said, "and the best way to do that is to make German-style lagers."

Reach Glancy at 828-694-7860 or gary.glancy@blueridgenow.com.

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