Hi Ronnie,

Our MLS reported only 2 sales on Wrightsville Beach in March....not good!  The prices seem to be coming down, however everyone is still very cautious.  Family homes off the beach areas seem to be picking up now.

Dick Beals 

I've also heard many NC Coastal areas were recently re-appraised for tax purposes, raising lots of taxes, any truth to that? Very interested in comments from coastal Realtors...

Dick and Sandy - sorry to hear about such low sales.  Trulia offers a tool that you can compare pricing between two towns.  I was looking at the local towns on the Outer Banks and the pricing trend was down in most areas.  The problem is that Trulia only has a portion of our actual data so accuracy is a bit off.

Terry - Most counties assess values at least once every seven years - not a Realtor but I think that is the rule in NC.  When you have an area like the Outer Banks that saw up to 30% appreciation in the hot years, you are bound to have to pay the bill to the tax collector.  

The other area that will be affecting our market is insurance costs.  Our homeowners insurance will go up by 25% for all coastal counties this year.  Ad to the recently updated flood maps and you have the total cost of ownership up considerably.  The market value of the Real Estate has dropped some but other factors have taken a bite out of potential savings.  

Ronnie: I am Realtor in Illinois and recently bought a second home on a lake in Wisconsin. Our Realtor from Wisconsin had said that last year was a slow year in that area for waterfront. We've wanted to purchase a second home for years, with the slowing market and low interest rates, we thought this would be the best time to do it.  We got a great deal and plan to hold onto the property for years. We believe we made a great investment for our future.

 Ronnie and Terry,

 The appraisals have come in and the new assessments have been delivered to homeowners.  Some are happy, most are not.  Beach areas in some instances have increased by 300% (not a typo), and some of these people who bought their modest beach cottage 7 years ago for $150k are now looking at a whopper of a tax bill.  Like I said, some are happy, some are not.  See related article here...

Wilmington on the Rise

Dick Beals  

It's hard to see an appraisal from when things are hot and then when things have slowed.

Ronnie... I truly believe if you can afford it, buy that second home.  At least this is my opinion and I would use a safe COFI arm that Wachovia came out with lately.

On another note, CONGRATS on your 1st featured post. 

At a class i attended earlier this year, it was predicted that the luxury and second home market has been adversely affected and should recover in a year or two

thanks for sharing the article...here in metro Phoenix and Scottsdale, a.k.a Valley of the Sun - we have tons of second home buyers and while I'm not privy to the latest stats I can tell you that the market is still seeing second home buyers.  Now many tend to be upscale buyers looking at golf communities, luxury condos as well as palatial ultra luxe homes in the Paradise Valley and North Scottsdale neighborhoods.  I was also discussing this with a fellow Rainer and Realtor in Flagstaff and she indicated that their market is still thriving because of many Phoenicians who buy second homes up in northern arizona.

Cheers,
Uzi Husain
Arizona Realtor, serving Goodyear & The Phoenix metropolitan area 

I work in the vacation and second home market of Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee Wa. We haven't seen a slowdown here at all. Appreciation is at about 15-20% and our inventory remains low.

We are lucky to be within a few hours of Seattle. The economy is good in our state and even if real estate appreciation is not at the peak of a year ago, it is still quite healthy. (Closer to home, the Wenatchee market is booming with 20-30% appreciation annually.)

I really hate these articles about national trends. Real estate is local. 

I work in Steamboat Springs, CO and our market is booming.  Prices are up about 30% since December.  Construction is happening on every corner.  Our ski mountain was recently purchased by Intrawest and since then, the secret about Steamboat is out.

Jeff,

Thanks for the nice trophy.  My kids will be jealous.

I am glad to hear others are having a better times in resort markets.  Like Geordie said - Real Estate is local. 

I think the second home market maybe the answer to some slow markets in the area.