Front Porch Realty - 2015 Year End Market Update

2015 Year End Market Update

Happy New Year! While all of us in the housing industry are trying to catch our breath, I took some time once again to look at our year end local SW Wake county real estate numbers. I was both surprised and pleased to see that Triangle MLS reported the Fuquay-Varina/Holly Springs market 3^rd in the Raleigh housing market for market share for 2015. With our crazy growth, I decided to add an even more in depth comparison of re-sale homes to new construction in our region. According to the TMLS report, the Fuquay-Varina/Holly Springs market also showed a lower than average Days on Market of 50 (the Triangle average was 60) as well as a higher than average sales price increase of 7.5% (the Triangle average was 5.6%). Across the board, re-sale and new construction of all SW Wake markets showed an increase in number of solds, sales prices, and price per square foot, as well as decreased days on market compared to 2014 year end. This is not surprising news as we are deep into a “Seller’s Market”. There are just not enough homes out there for sale, new or re-sale, to satisfy the buyers pouring in to our market. Now is the time to sell your home! See our 2015 Sales by City Comparison FRONT PORCH REALTY has had lots of excitement going on this past year too! We have added 3 more real estate brokers, 2 of them bilingual; we can now help consumers speaking French and Spanish. We have also JUST moved our long standing Cary office to Holly Springs. Watch for some exciting news about our Holly Springs office coming soon. Front Porch Realty loves selling Fuquay-Varina and the surrounding area, we are helping buyers moving across country as well as those moving across town. I will be celebrating my 20th year selling real estate this year and am proud to offer Fuquay-Varina a team of experienced professionals to make everyone’s dream come true! Please like our Facebook page to stay up on all of our LOCAL real estate news.

Need something to do in Fuquay Varina?

It has been amazing to watch and be a part of the tremendous growth of our “little town,” Fuquay Varina. Way back when, I used to have to search and search for something for my kids and I to do on a beautiful fall weekend and it most likely involved leaving Fuquay and traveling to Raleigh, Cary or beyond. Now, I cannot keep up with all of the fun events the Downtown Association, Chamber of Commerce, and many other organizations have planned for us! Don’t miss what I believe is the 1st annual BBQ, Blues and Brews festival tomorrow, Saturday, September 26th on Broad St. in downtown Fuquay from 3 – 8 pm rain or shine. Come hungry! This Sunday, September 27th, is the Out of the Darkness Walk to heighten awareness of suicide prevention. 1:00 pm check-in time and 2 pm walk . ( Front Porch Realty is a proud sponsor of this event! ) Save the Date for Our Day in Downtown festival that has now turned into our DAY AND NIGHT in Downtown festival. Saturday, October 10th, 12 – 7 pm in our downtown historic district. You do not want to miss this event, fun for all ages! And of course there is always the dog park and loads of other parks. Both downtown and uptown shopping. And local restaurants and breweries galore! I sometimes go a whole 2 weeks without ever having to leave Fuquay!

Re-sale versus New Construction in 2nd Quarter 2015

It’s no surprise our Southwest Triangle Market is HOT this season and our quarterly numbers are certainly proving that. This quarter I have decided to show numbers of a more narrowed down section of our county by reporting only Fuquay Varina, Holly Springs, Apex and Cary. I have also included data comparing re-sale homes to new construction homes as our new starts have certainly heated up this year as well with new construction homes being a significant part of our real estate sales. 2nd Q 2015 In summary, all markets are showing healthy new construction activity. Surprisingly, in most price-points re-sale homes are showing “price per square foot” as high as new construction and “days on market” just as low, if not lower, than new construction. Builders are staying very competitive. Holly Springs is the only market that is actually showing a measurable increase in number of units sold this 2^nd quarter 2015 as compared to the same quarter last year with a 27% increase. The other towns show 1-6% increase of total units sold. It should also be noted that our table shows only active and closed sales; calculating months of inventory for this purpose we are considering “pending” sales as “active”. FRONT PORCH REALTY has settled in to our new Main Street Fuquay office and are enjoying being part of the Link between our two downtowns. We have started a new seminar series on the 3^rd Thursday of every month from 6-7 pm. This casual seminar is for potential clients that are just starting to think about a move. We offer a relaxed format with wine and cheese as well as visits from some of our trusted local professionals that also are involved in the selling or buying real estate transaction. Please send over anyone that you believe can benefit! What’s a Buying and Selling Seminar Anyway? We love selling Fuquay and the surrounding area, we are helping buyers move across the country as well as those moving across town. With 19 years of experience selling our Triangle market, excellent communication skills and broker support team. Welcome Home, Laura

Wake-up Fuquay!

FRONT PORCH REALTY was able to attend the monthly F-V Chamber of Commerce “WAKE-UP Fuquay!” breakfast meeting last week. What a great way to learn about all that our Chamber does for us and our community. I knew that Wake Tech was growing, but did you know that they offer LOADS of FREE seminars for the general public and businesses? A Wake Tech representative was at the breakfast to tell us about a sampling of the free seminars including topics like Linkedin, IRS business organization, Quickbooks, and attracting more clients. See their Summer schedule here. We were also brought up to date on their newest Morrisville campus set to open soon.

Thank you Wake Tech and F-V Chamber of Commerce!

En Plein Air highlights downtown Fuquay Varina

FRONT PORCH REALTY was able to attend Fuquay’s 4th annual En Plein Air Art Event on April 17, 2015. For those of you, like us, wondering what En Plein Air means, it’s French, meaning of “open air”. How wonderful it was to see these talented artists around our historic Fuquay and Varina districts capturing our buildings and streets in such a true artist fashion. We had artists from as far away as Asheville and Wilmington coming to Fuquay Varina to compete, that is wonderful!

See the FV Downtown Revitalization Association’s website and the announcement of the 2015 En Plein Air Winners. Thank you Fuquay Varina Downtown for doing such a great job promoting our town. You are making it real easy for us to sell Fuquay Varina! Welcome home, Laura

FVHS Students move onto National Level!

What an honor it has been to be able to work with the awesome young adults of Fuquay Varina High School’s Future Business Leaders of America group. After competing at the regional level, thirteen of these bright students have just moved on to state level at the NC State FBLA conference in Greensboro. A record nine of these students have placed in their competitive events and qualified for the national competition in Chicago June 29-July 2, 2015. Please join FRONT PORCH REALTY in helping to fund their trip to Chicago. Contact Mr. Bob Lee, M.Ed., Special Populations Coordinator, FBLA Advisor, FVHS, 919-557-2561, rlee@wcpss.net for details on how you can contribute. The success of these bright students says so much for their leadership advisor, Mr. Bob Lee. Mr. Lee has continually increased the FBLA membership at the high school along with going above and beyond to help his students compete at that high level. How fortunate are both these hard working kids and FV High School, to have Mr. Lee’s dedication!

Laura McCorry with FVHS students at the FBLA’s State Competion.

Fuquay Varina Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet 2015

FRONT PORCH REALTY recently attended this popular F-V Business Community event held this year at Bentwinds Golf & Country Club. Besides enjoying great networking opportunities and plenty of food, a surprise tribute was made to our beloved police chief, Larry Smith, who will be retiring March 31, 2015 after 10 years of service to Fuquay Varina. Chief Smith has been instrumental in Fuquay, integrating all parts of our community, especially various children and teen programs like the Police Explorer Program. This program provides teens an introduction to law enforcement careers and the highly successful Teen Day Fuquay, a distracted driving program targeted at Fuquay-Varina teenagers. Wow, we will miss him!

All of the year’s volunteer efforts were acknowledged as well as lots of awards given for special individuals and businesses. See all of the recipient winners here on the F-V Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.

A look back at the 2014 Triangle Real Estate Market

To no one’s surprise 2014 was a great year for our Triangle real estate market! All of our local markets showed an increase in average sales price as well as an increase in price per square foot and decrease in days on market. That means homes are selling fast! 4th Q 2014 Home Sales by City This shortage of homes for sale has helped our sellers to be able get out from under water and have the confidence again to sell. Mortgage rates stayed extremely low for the year which was a key factor in fueling buyer activity. See how 2013 compared to 2014 and how a few of our Fuquay Varina local neighborhoods shaped up in 2014. This should give you a good picture of what’s to come in 2015! 4th Q 2014 City and subdivision Welcome home! laura

Upscale Coffee/Wine shop is here in FUQUAY VARINA

For those of us that love to stay right here in Fuquay to meet a friend for a quick coffee or a glass of wine after work, it’s here! Thank you to the local couples that have invested in a beautiful building in downtown Fuquay Varina and took the time, resources and energy to transform it into an absolutely beautiful meeting spot. I truly could not believe I was in Fuquay when I walked in! Not only can you enjoy fresh baked goods from StickBoy Bread Company up the street; there are fruit, cheese and cracker platters available as well. You can even order from Anna’s Pizza and the Meeting Corner across the street and they will deliver their delicious Cuban cuisine.

Visit the MILL soon, before the secret is out!

Commercial Real Estate Going Fast in Fuquay Varina

Commercial Real Estate Bus Tour

I had the privilege of hopping on the Fuquay Varina Chamber of Commerce’s 5th annual Commercial Bus Tour last week. What a fantastic opportunity to ride along with investors and other brokers from Raleigh and other cities of NC. l was pleasantly surprised to see such great interest from so far away! Fuquay is booming as we saw from our tour of vacant lots and office/retail space available all amid the construction of new buildings currently going up right before our eyes. We concluded our tour at Wake Technical College’s culinary restaurant, what a treat!

Contact Front Porch Realty today for your private tour of Fuquay Varina’s commercial real estate as well as any other real estate need!