March Top Producers

 

Congratulations to our Top Producers for March!

 

 LuAnn White – Listing & Sales Leader

 Jim Jensen – Listing Leader Runner Up

 Peggy Isakson – Sales Leader Runner Up

Coldwell Banker First Realty Plays Bingo

Yesterday Coldwell Banker First Realty agents Mary Goroski, Francine Gilmore & Deb Clark and Firts Mortgage Service employee Karla Heinrich, assisted Bethany Homes in its annual Bingo Marathon. The event is one residents look forward to, many playing from 9am-4pm and even skipping naps! Local businesses can volunteer to run an hour of bingo and assist the residents in the game.

   

           Mary                               Francine                               Deb                            Karla

The Real Estate Business…Is It for You?

Coldwell Banker First Realty will be holding a Career Night!  Attend our free career seminar to learn about Real Estate and what it takes to succeed. Hosted by Barbara Grande, Broker & Brenda Martinson, Corporate Residential Manager.

What: Career Night

When: Monday, April 4 & April 18

Time: 6-7pm

Where: Coldwell Banker First Realty Office - 2731 12th Ave S

We would love to see you there! Feel free to just show up, or for more information email careers@fmrealestate.com.

Young Home Buyers Will Lead Housing Market Recovery

Here is an article that appeared in “Today’s Real Estate Advisor.”

RISMEDIA, March 21, 2011—Generation X—young families and adults ages 31 to 45—are likely to lead the home-buying recovery as it gets underway, according to real estate experts who spoke at an educational webinar produced by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in partnership with Builder magazine. These potential home buyers are most likely to think it’s a good time to get off the fence—and have strong opinions about the design features their new homes will include. At 32% of the population of home-buying age—generally defined as those who are at least 30 years old, the Gen X population cohort isn’t the largest, but it’s the most mobile, said presenter Mollie Carmichael, principal of John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif. “They are in full force with their careers and they need to accommodate growing families,” she said. In sharp contrast, even though they constitute 41% of prospective home buyers, Baby Boomers continue to wait for the market to improve, and their decisions to delay retirement also delay their decisions to downsize into a smaller home, Carmichael said. Most of the 10,000 buyers and potential buyers in 27 metro areas that the consulting company surveyed were optimistic about a new home purchase, with between 85% and 89% saying that it was a good time to buy a home. Only 13% said they thought home prices would continue to fall, further evidence that it’s “not all about price,” she said. “They want something compelling, from a design or personalization standpoint,” said Carmichael. In addition, though the average home size is shrinking, a majority of prospective buyers said they would like a bigger home than the one they have. “These are first-time buyers or younger families looking for more room to grow,” she said. Seventy percent said that they were willing to pay $5,000 more for a green home, but those responding to the survey said that they expected new homes to already have many green technology features. They also said they would pay a premium for dark wood cabinets, a separate tub and shower and a fireplace in the living room, and more preferred a great room over formal spaces. And while community amenities are important to Gen X buyers, 46% said they prefer a home in a large-lot, suburban development, versus the 21% looking for a traditional or “walkable” neighborhood. Webinar panelist Heather McCune, director of marketing at Bassenian/Lagoni Architects in Newport Beach, Calif., also emphasized that design will be important in generating sales in the emerging marketplace. “The notion of ‘build it and they will come’ no longer works. Design matters,” she said. McCune said buyers are looking for homes with a connection between indoor and outdoor spaces, even in colder climates, to create the perception of greater home size, even if the space is only usable for part of the year. They also want more storage, an open floor plan and flexibility in the garage. “While Gen X numbers are smaller than the birth cohorts before and after them, their numbers have been enlarged by steady immigration,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Gen X may wait longer than their predecessors to establish their own household or buy a home because of the recent recession impacts, but the trends are still likely to occur as they have for past generations.” This webinar was one in a four part series entitled New Horizons: Setting a Course for Success in the New Market. The series was sponsored by Simonton Windows and ThermaTru. For more information, visit www.nahb.org. RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. Copyright© 2011 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

February Top Producers

Congratulations to our February Top Producers!

 

Harry & Linda Bosch: Listing Leaders

 Bill Richter: Sales Leader, Listing Leader Runner Up

 Jim Jensen: Sales Leader Runner Up

January Top Producers

Congratulations to our Top Producers for January!

Sales Leader: Pat Karley

Sales Leader Runner Up: Pat Stanley

Listing Leader: LuAnn White

Listing Leader Runner-Up: Jim Jensen

2010 Broker Summary of MLS

Broker Summary of MLS for the year 2010

Date of Summary:  January 1, 2010 thru December 31, 2010

Closed MLS volume for the year 2010                         $448,634,676

Closed MLS volume for the year 2009                          $466,716,200

These figures show our closed volume is down 3.8% in comparison to closed volume for the year 2009. The number of closed units is down 8.4%. 

When we analyze our Multiple Listing statistics it is important to separate existing residential sales from new construction sales in order to give the truest picture possible.  In keeping with that analysis:

New Construction closed volume for the year 2010    $77,495,273

New Construction closed volume for the year 2009    $83,465,603 this shows a decrease of a little over 7% for the year. It is also important to remember that not all new construction in the metropolitan area closes thru our Multiple Listing Service, but these are the only statistics available to us.

Existing residential closed volume thru December 31, 2010      $350,791,470

Existing residential closed volume for the year 2009                $370,900,669

That means existing residential closed volume was down in 2010 5.4%, not bad at all in these conservative times.   *Note the closed for new and existing do not meet the total closed for MLS as we have a Category called “other” which includes lots, land, lake property, mobile homes, etc. that thru 2010 accounted for 4.5 % of our MLS closed business.

Our average sales price (of existing homes) as of December 31, 2010 was $162,554; for the year 2009 our average sales price was $158,080 . This means an average sales price gain of 2.8%, which is right where we like to be .

In 2010 5,660 new listings taken.  2009 – 5901. That is a decrease of 4%.  That is ok, too. Balancing supply and demand is good for the entire real estate market.   

Days on market for our entire MLS was 89 days this year.  I always caution this number as when I look at area specific such as North Fargo, I see days on market for the year at 74.  There is an area of south Fargo where average days on market was 69 and in rural Minnesota average days on market was 110.   

In Conclusion: The Federal Tax Credit which gave a boost to our industry during the first quarter of 2010 truly backfired the second half of the year, leaving inventory on the market longer and tipping the market.  We need a balance of first time, move up, and empty nesters to balance the market.  When the first time home buyers were taken out of the market, the scales slipped.  I see the market, in accordance with our economy nationwide, starting to wake up and stretch its arms again.  Ready for a strong 2011.

Prepared by Barbara A. Grande, Broker, Coldwell Banker First Realty                1/27/2011

 

Coldwell Banker Goes Red For Women

Coldwell Banker First Realty employees wore red Friday in support of Go Red For Women, the American Heart Disease program aimed to fight heart disease in women.

The program aims to raise awareness and education of women and heart disease. Their mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

For more information on Go Red For Women check out goredforwomen.org.

ND Housing Ranked 1st to Recover in Nation

MarketWatch ranked the top 5 states in the nation where housing will recover first, and guess where North Dakota placed…that’s right, FIRST!

1. North Dakota

North Dakota has the lowest mortgage delinquency rate of any state, just 0.9%. It also has shown the best home-price performance of any state, with values up 7.2% from the peak of everyone else’s boom in 2005 to what was a trough for everybody else in 2010.Only Texas, Vermont and South Dakota also reported gains over that time. And the state tied with its neighbor South Dakota with a nation-low unemployment rate of 3.7% in the third quarter of 2010.

2. South Dakota

3. Iowa

4. Nebraska

5. Oklahoma

To view the entire article by MarketWatch click here.

Nicole Young Named One of 35 Under 35

Nicole Young, Commercial Marketing & Administrative Coordinator with Coldwell Banker First Realty, has been named to the 2010 class of the 35 Under 35 program. 

The women’s leadership program’s purpose is to mobilize the caring power of women, energize and inspire women to make a difference and deepen leadership opportunities in the Cass-Clay community for young women. The program was developed by the United Way of Cass Clay, the Women’s Fund of the FM Area Foundation, and the YWCA Cass Clay.