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You will be prompted to register when searching for properties. Why Registration Is Required. We are happy to provide you unlimited free access to the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) through the Internet Data exchange (IDX) where available. This is the residential listings database of the local Association of Realtors® and it contains the most current and most comprehensive listing of new homes for sale in the entire local market area. On May 27, 2008 the National Association of Realtors® and the US Department of Justice reached an historic agreement to provide public access to the exclusive Multiple Listing Service or IDX. Now in order for us to provide you access to this data, Federal law requires that you register when you visit. Don't worry, we are local and not in the business of selling names, we respect your privacy and apologize for any inconvenience. |
The Lake Norman Gateway offers you Lake Norman NC homes for sale with all the MLS current listings, photos, information and more, including land and in the Mooresville, Cornelius, Huntersville, Statesville, Troutman, Davidson, Sherrill's Ford, Salisbury, Charlotte, Kannapolis, Concord, China Grove, and Catawba areas.
Contact Theo at 704-763-9828 or email via the "Contact Us" for more information.
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How is the Lake Norman Real Estate Market Doing?
Waterfront Homes
- There are currently 440 active waterfront homes on Lake Norman
- 311 Single Family Waterfront Homes are either under contract or have sold during the previous 12 months (4/1/11 - 3/31/12)
- The information above suggests that we have slightly above a 1 year inventory of waterfront homes at Lake Norman
- The median price for the waterfront homes that sold was $660,000
Bank Owned / Short Sales / Foreclosures
- There are currently 41 homes listed for sale as bank owned, foreclosure or short sale in the Lake Norman area
- 217 homes that sold during the last 12 months were listed as bank owned, foreclosure, or short sale
- Based on the previous information, inventory is currently low on Lake Norman and thus less competitive for the non-distressed seller
Cash Purchases
- There were 173 cash buyers (67%) in the Lake Norman Area during the previous 12 months
The median price for cash purchases was $312,600
Search for Waterfront Homes and Townhomes - scroll down on side bar and select:
"Waterfront Button" to view all Lake Norman Waterfont Properties
check the "Distressed Button" to view all Distressed Waterfron properties.
Charlotte initially made its mark as a transportation hub, but these days the banking industry reigns and suburbs like Lake Norman is contributing to these results.
Charlotte is the "second largest financial center in the nation, after New York," said Bob Morgan, president of Charlotte's Chamber of Commerce.
Bank of America calls Charlotte home, while Citi, Ally Financial, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo all host operations there. The jobs offered by these big banks and lifestyle have helped this city's population to swell over the years.
Also contributing to the area's growth is the "half-back" phenomenon. North Carolina receives a large number of former Northerners who first retire to Florida, but later decide to leave the state and move to a state with milder weather and four seasons.
"They get hit by their second or third hurricane and they move halfway back to their old homes," said Morgan.
Click on the Map and Search for Foreclosures and Homes For Sale in the Lake Norman Area
Theo Pretorius
Foreclosures Slightly Down
The number of completed foreclosures in February 2012 was down on a monthly basis and slightly on a year-over-year comparison, but overall, foreclosure inventory has decreased compared to a year ago, according to Corelogic's National Foreclosure report for February.
Completed foreclosures per thousand active loans for judicial vs. non-judicial states
Completed foreclosures are counted as properties that get auctioned off and purchased by a third party, such as an investor or lender.
For February 2012, 65,000 completed foreclosures were reported, compared to 66,000 in February 2011, and 71,000 in January 2012. The number of completed foreclosures over 12 months ending in February was 862,000. From the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, CoreLogic estimates 3.4 million completed foreclosures.
"Even though the pace of completed foreclosures has slowed, the overall foreclosure inventory is decreasing because REO sales were up in February," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "With the spring buying season upon us, the inventory may decline further as the pace of distressed-asset sales rises along with the rest of the housing market."
Approximately 1.4 million homes with a mortgage, or 3.4 percent, were in the foreclosure inventory as of February 2012. Nationally, the number of borrowers in the foreclosure inventory decreased by 115,000, a decline of 7.6 percent compared to February 2011. For the prior month of January 2012, no change was reported.
The share of borrowers nationally that were 90 or more days late on their mortgage payment fell to 7.3 percent in February 2012 from 7.8 percent in February 2011, but up slightly from the 7.2 percent in January 2012.
The distressed clearing ratio for February 2012 moved up to 0.73 from 0.66 in January 2012. The distressed clearing ratio is calculated by dividing the number of REO sales by the number of completed foreclosures. A higher ratio means a faster pace of REO sales compared to the pace of completed foreclosures.
"In February, more than 60 major markets saw a decrease in their foreclosure rates compared to a year ago," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "This combined with faster REO-clearing rates, better employment news, and continued historically low interest rates are all positive signs of improvement in the housing economy."
Of the top 100 markets measured by Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) population, 33 showed an increase in the year-over-year change in the number of foreclosures in February 2012.
Five states with the largest number of completed foreclosures:
- California (154,000)
- Florida (87,000)
- Michigan (64,000)
- Arizona (63,000)
- Texas (58,000)
These five states account for 49.4 percent of all completed foreclosures.
Five states with the highest foreclosure rates:
- Florida (12.0 percent)
- New Jersey (6.6 percent)
- Illinois (5.4 percent)
- Nevada (5.0 percent)
- New York (4.9 percent)
Five states with the lowest foreclosure rates:
- Wyoming (0.7 percent)
- Alaska (0.8 percent)
- North Dakota (0.8 percent)
- Nebraska (1.0 percent)
- Montana (1.4 percent)
Credit E Chio
Ten Things to know about Mortgage Debt Forgiveness
Over the past several years, millions of homeowners have had billions of dollars in mortgage debt forgiven, either through foreclosure, refinancing or short sales. It's important for real estate professionals and homeowners to understand that mortgage debt forgiveness has significant tax consequences.
Here are 10 things the Internal Revenue Service says you should know about mortgage debt forgiveness:
1. Normally, when a lender forgives a debt -- that is, relieves the borrower from having to pay it back -- the amount of the debt is taxable income to the borrower. Thus, a homeowner who had $100,000 in mortgage debt forgiven through a short sale would have to pay income tax on that $100,000, as an example.
Fortunately, under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, you may be able to exclude from your taxable income up to $2 million of debt forgiven on your principal residence from 2007 through 2012. This means you don't have to pay income tax on the forgiven debt.
2. The limit is $1 million for a married person filing a separate return.
3. You may exclude from your taxable income debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in a foreclosure.
4. To qualify, the debt must have been used to buy, build or substantially improve your principal residence and be secured by that residence.
5. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act applies to home improvement mortgages you take out to substantially improve your principal residence -- that is, they also qualify for the exclusion.
6. Second or third mortgages you used for purposes other than home improvement -- for example, to pay off credit card debt -- do not qualify for the exclusion.
7. If you qualify, claim the special exclusion by filling out Form 982: Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness , and attach it to your federal income tax return for the tax year in which the debt was forgiven.
8. Debt forgiven on second homes, rental property, business property, credit cards or car loans does not qualify for the tax-relief provision. In some cases, however, other tax-relief provisions -- such as bankruptcy -- may be applicable. IRS Form 982 provides more details about these provisions.
9. If your debt is reduced or eliminated, you normally will receive a year-end statement, Form 1099-C: Cancellation of Debt, from your lender. By law, this form must show the amount of debt forgiven and the fair market value of any property foreclosed.
10. Examine the Form 1099-C carefully. Notify the lender immediately if any of the information shown is incorrect. You should pay particular attention to the amount of debt forgiven in Box 2 as well as the value listed for your home in Box 7.
The IRS has created a highly useful Interactive Tax Assistant on its website that you can use to determine if your canceled debt is taxable. The tax assistant tool takes you through a series of questions and provides you with responses to tax law questions.
Click here for more information on Short Sales
"Single-family homes are really cheap" - Warren Buffett.
Billionaire Warren Buffett said Monday that stocks remain relatively cheap compared to other investments as the economy continues to improve. He also said that the company he heads is prepared to replace him whenever the need arises.
"Equities are still cheap relative to any other asset class," Buffett said. In his letter, he devoted two pages to explaining why he prefers owning a piece of a productive business instead of bonds or gold.
Houses are another attractive investment at current prices, Buffett said. He added he might buy a couple hundred thousand homes if only he could figure out a way to manage them effectively. He said he isn't very handy.
"Single-family homes are really cheap now too," Buffett said.
Buffett conceded in his letter released Saturday that he was dead wrong to predict the housing market would recover by now. He said Monday that he believes conditions will improve in 2012.
Click on the Map and Search for Foreclosures and Homes For Sale in the Lake Norman Area
Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit.
The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan is 700. While this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it is constant with requirements one year ago.
Additionally, a Fed Senior Loan Officer Survey found credit requirements in the fourth quarter were consistent with the past three quarters.However, other market indicators point not just to a stabilization of mortgage lending standards, but also a loosening of credit availability.
Banks are now lending amounts up to 3.5 times borrower earnings. This is up from a low during the crisis of 3.2 times borrower earnings.
Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV), which Capital Economics denotes "the clearest sign yet of an improvement in mortgage credit conditions."
In contrast to a low of 74 percent reached in mid-2010, banks are now lending at 82 percent LTV.
While credit conditions may have loosened slightly, some potential home buyers are still struggling with credit requirements. In fact, Capital Economics points out that in November 8 percent of contract cancellations were the result of a potential buyer not qualifying for a loan.
Additionally, Capital Economics says "any improvement in credit conditions won't be significant enough to generation actual house price gains," and potential ramifications from the euro-zone pose a threat to future credit availability.
By: K Franks
Click on the Map and Search for Foreclosures and Homes For Sale in the Lake Norman Area
A new wave of short sales in 2012?
Fannie and Freddie are on a mission to make short sales more attractive to lenders and borrowers. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which guarantee or own more than half of the outstanding mortgages in the United States- say they are working on policy changes that will make short sales easier and more efficient.
Those changes will likely include incentives to servicers to allow borrowers to sell their houses for less than what is owed, says Tracy Mooney, Freddie Mac senior vice president of single-family servicing. She spoke Wednesday at the Mortgage Bankers Association's servicing conference in Orlando, Fla. Mooney says Freddie plans to ease the rules on documents requested from borrowers during the short sale process. It wants servicers to reach out to more struggling borrowers with solicitation offers encouraging them to short-sell their homes to avoid foreclosure.
FHFA, the federal agency that oversees Fannie and Freddie, is promoting short sales to avoid foreclosures.
Julia Gordon, manager of single-family policy at the FHFA, or Federal Housing Finance Agency, says FHFA is about to start working with Fannie and Freddie "to improve short sales."
The changes will include "clarity around timelines, eligibility criteria ... and increased incentives," she told a crowd of mortgage servicers at a Mortgage Bankers Association conference.
If the entities succeed, it would help many borrowers who can't afford their mortgage payments and can't sell because they are underwater. It would also encourage more buyers to look into short sales as an option, once they know they won't have to wait months to close.
It has gotten much easier to close on a short sale if you work with a qualified Short Sale expert but it remains a frustrating process for buyers, sellers and their agents.
Any and all improvements in the process are welcome.
Click on the Map and Search for Foreclosures and Homes For Sale in the Lake Norman Area
The US population grew an estimated 0.86% since last year.
The three states that shrank since last year:
Michigan - population fell by 0.33%
Maine -0.11%,
Rhode Island -0.03%.
The cost of living is changing the American landscape and people are moving to States with lower taxes and cost of living.
New York had a negative population growth of -238,868 over the past 3 years and California was leading the pack with -264,749!
Three States that are gaining:
Low cost states did better and it is not surprising that Texas's population grew by +207,821 over the past three years. North Carolina grew by +144,132 and Florida with 54,194.
If a state is losing, then it stands to reason that there are definately factors within the state that make the State less competitive. As the economy recovers, the states with higher competitive effects could have an advantage over states that haven't been able to create or pull their fair share of the jobs. Technology made it possible for people to be productive and live where they want and this trend will continue.
It is a great time to invest and buy a home in North Carolina!
Theo Pretorius
111 B Raceway Drive, Mooresville NC 28117
We provide services in the Lake Norman Area, Mooresville, Statesville, Huntersville, Davidson, Cornelius, The Point, The Peninsula, Denver and Sherrills Ford
Click here for directions to LakeNormanRealEstateGateway at Southern Homes of the Carolinas and ask for Theo Pretorius. Office close to Target and Best Buy in Mooresville. Call and schedule an appointment at 704-313-9321
