My Latest Blog

RISMEDIA, November 10, 2009—In a tough economic environment, eating well on a budget can be challenging. Tempting low-cost, high-calorie comfort foods are readily available, but often lack important nutrients that are sacrificed in exchange for convenience. With a few key skills and strategies from TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, it can be relatively easy to create flavorful, well-balanced meals without busting the budget. 

Eat In More and Out Less
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found that spending on food away from home accounted for nearly half of every American food dollar, or $565 billion, in 2008. While they require more planning, home-cooked meals are an excellent way to minimize your grocery bill and they are typically healthier than the options you may find when dining out. 

To save money while cooking at home, try some of these tips:
-Make at least one meal meatless. Choose recipes that utilize eggs or dried beans – like pinto or northern beans – as the main protein.
-Double your recipes and freeze leftovers or extra amounts of meat, bread, and cooked vegetables. Bring to work for lunch or use the excess ingredients as inspiration for future meals.
-Eat dinner as a family, or consider having a weekly potluck with neighbors to reduce the cost per person of your meals.
-Clip coupons, avoiding “new food” coupon gimmicks that often are low in nutritional value.
-Subscribe to a healthy cooking magazine, or peruse recipe books for healthy ideas.

Plan Meals for the Week in Advance
-A meal planning chart or simple shopping list for the week are great tools for the budget-minded, health-conscious consumer. Knowing what you already have in the pantry and what you intend to make ahead of time reduces impulse spending, saves time, and improves the nutritional value of your meal.
-Take part of one day a week to plan the upcoming week’s menu. Search “meal planning charts” on the Internet for a variety of templates and convenient shopping tools.
-Read the supermarket circulars in your local newspaper, or look online for weekly specials that can help guide your meal planning.
-Post meal plans on the refrigerator door where the entire family can see it and refer back to it throughout the week. This also helps avoid the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?”

Only Shop Once a Week
In addition to shopping at grocery stores, try local markets and even dollar stores. Shopping once a week makes it easier to avoid unnecessary purchases and encourages you to stick to your weekly menu. Have a snack before you visit the grocery store. Shopping on an empty stomach can lead to impulse buying. If fresh fruits and vegetables are cost-prohibitive, try the frozen or canned versions. Frozen produce is often flash frozen at the source, locking in nutrients. Rinse canned vegetables before cooking to reduce the sodium content. Buy generics, which are often less expensive than name-brand items. Choose prepared foods with short ingredient lists and minimal additives or artificial ingredients.

Use Unit Pricing to Get the Best Value
Savvy shoppers know that using unit pricing can maximize their purchasing power. Commonly listed in small print below or to the side of the total price and as dollars or cents per unit of weight – such as pounds, ounces, or grams – unit pricing can be a valuable tool that helps you make an informed choice about your purchases.

Grocery stores don’t always post the costs on sale items; bring a calculator with you to the supermarket, or use the calculator on your cell phone. Buying “economy” or “family size” containers is sometimes, but not always, a better buy. Larger packages that have a lower cost per unit than their smaller counterparts are only going to save you money if you will truly eat all of the food in the package. If it spoils and has to be thrown away, it could just be a waste of your money.

Packaging Gets Downsized
Be cautious of stores’ shrinking food packages and their content while prices stay the same. Common changes include packaging redesign that holds fewer ounces by way of indented container bottoms, cartons that hold 1/4 less of a quart, and boxes that remain the same size but actually have smaller bags of product inside.

For more information, visit www.tops.org.

New Rules to Clarify Fees

New regulations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will require that closing costs be spelled out on a revised and consumer-friendly version of the good-faith estimate form that borrowers are supposed to receive within three days of applying for a mortgage. These rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Fees are divided into three categories:

• Fees that cannot increase from upfront estimates to closing, including lender or broker's mortgage origination, processing, and underwriting charges, as well as lender or broker’s “points” based on the interest rate quoted and local transfer taxes.
• Fees that can increase as much as 10 percent from upfront estimates, including services such as appraisals, title insurance, and recording fees from local governments.
• Fees that can increase without limit because the amount is difficult to predict in advance, including home owners insurance, daily interest charges on the loan, and initial deposits by the borrower into an escrow account.

The new HUD-1 form will allow the borrower to easily compare what they were told the settlement fees will be with what they actually are at closing.

Source: The Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R. Harney (11/06/2009)

States See Surging Sales, Moderating Prices

Most states continued to experience rising existing-home sales in the third quarter, with prices moderating in many metro areas, according to the latest survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, increased 11.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.30 million units in the third quarter from 4.76 million units in the second quarter, and are now 5.9 percent above the 5.01 million-unit pace in the third quarter of 2008.
Sales increased from the second quarter in 45 states and the District of Columbia; 28 states and D.C. saw double-digit gains. Year-over-year sales were higher in 32 states and D.C.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the tax credit is a significant factor. “We can’t underestimate just how powerful a catalyst the first-time home buyer tax credit has been for the housing sector,” he said. “It’s given buyers the confidence they needed to get off the fence and take advantage of extremely affordable housing conditions. The buying conditions this year are the most favorable on record dating back to 1970, but the tax credit is allowing buyers to set aside any reservations about waiting for a better deal.”

During the third quarter, 123 out of 153 metropolitan statistical areas² reported lower median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the third quarter of 2008, while 30 areas had price gains.

The national median existing single-family price was $177,900, which is 11.2 percent below the third quarter of 2008; the median is where half sold for more and half sold for less. Distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – accounted for 30 percent of transactions in the third quarter, which continued to weigh down median home prices because they sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.

“The decline in the national median price has moderated recently, and a shrinking supply of unsold inventory suggests we are getting closer to price stabilization in many areas, but we need a steady stream of financially qualified buyers to further reduce inventory and get us to a self-sustaining market,” Yun said. “Foreclosures will continue to come on the market, but rising sales from the expanded tax credit should stabilize home prices by next spring and help to stem future foreclosures.”

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate on a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.16 percent in the third quarter from a record low 5.03 percent in the second quarter, but was dramatically lower than the 6.32 percent average rate in the third quarter of 2008.

NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said he is encouraged by recent actions in Congress. “Extending and expanding the tax credit to more buyers through the middle of next year is the right medicine,” he said. “Congress understands the impact of housing on the economy, so consumers who aren’t able to complete a transaction before the end of this month now have a second chance but must have a contract in place by April 30.”

The biggest sales gain between the second and third quarters was in North Dakota, up 42.3 percent; followed by Rhode Island which rose 26.5 percent; and Pennsylvania, up 25.6 percent.

The largest single-family home price increase in the third quarter was in the Cumberland area of Maryland and West Virginia at $122,100, up 19.2 percent from the third quarter of 2008. Next was the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island area of Iowa and Illinois, where the median price increased 14.3 percent to $115,600, followed by Oklahoma City, at $144,100, up 9.1 percent from a year ago.

“The wide range of market performance and reversals around the country, ranging from double-digit gains to double-digit losses in both sales and prices, underscores just how local real estate truly is,” Yun said. “The wide changes and mix of numbers also indicates a market in transition, hopefully to one that is becoming more balanced and stable.”

Median third-quarter metro area single-family home prices ranged from a very affordable $61,400 in the Saginaw-Saginaw Township North area of Michigan to $566,000 in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California. The second most expensive area in the third quarter was San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont at $538,100; followed by the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area of California at $498,800.

Other affordable markets include the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area of Ohio and Pennsylvania at $70,700, and Lansing-East Lansing, Mich., at $86,600.

In the condo sector, metro area condominium and cooperative prices – covering changes in 55 metro areas – showed the national median existing-condo price was $178,000 in the third quarter, down 15.4 percent from the third quarter of 2008. Four metros showed annual increases in the median condo price and 51 areas had declines.

The metros experiencing condo price gains were San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, at $215,100, up 13.3 percent; followed by the Cincinnati-Middletown area, up 2.0 percent to $119,700; the Toledo, Ohio, area, where the median price of $130,400 rose 1.7 percent from the third quarter of 2008; and the Indianapolis area at $114,400, up 0.8 percent.

Metro area median existing-condo prices in the third quarter ranged from $67,600 in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., to $432,800 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. The second most expensive reported condo market was New York-Wayne-White Plains at $297,500, followed by Boston-Cambridge-Quincy at $293,700.

Other affordable condo markets include Reno-Sparks, Nev., at $81,300 in the third quarter, and Jacksonville, Fla., at $91,600.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast surged 16.7 percent in the third quarter to a pace of 930,000 units and are 6.9 percent higher than a year ago.
The median existing single-family home price in the Northeast declined 9.4 percent to $244,500 in the third quarter from the same quarter in 2008. The best price gain in the region was in Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y., where the median price of $119,700 rose 4.8 percent from the third quarter of 2008; followed by Manchester-Nashua, N.H., at $237,600, up 2.6 percent; and the Pittsburgh area, where the median price rose 1.5 percent to $124,600.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales jumped 13.2 percent in the third quarter to a pace of 1.20 million and are 5.2 percent above a year ago.

The median existing single-family home price in the Midwest was down 5.5 percent to $150,200 in the third quarter from the same period in 2008. After Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, the next strongest metro price increase in the region was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the median price of $145,700 was 7.6 percent higher than a year ago; followed by Bismarck, N.D., at $157,200, up 7.5 percent; and Ft. Wayne, Ind., where the median price rose 6.9 percent to $102,500.

In the South, existing-home sales rose 11.3 percent in the third quarter to an annual rate of 1.97 million and are 5.9 percent higher than the third quarter of 2008.

The median existing single-family home price in the South was $160,000 in the third quarter, down 7.9 percent from a year earlier. After Cumberland and Oklahoma City, the next strongest price increase in the region was in Shreveport-Bossier City, La., at $152,300, up 8.6 percent from the third quarter of 2008; Jackson, Miss., at $141,200, up 4.6 percent; and Durham, N.C., where the median price rose 3.6 percent to $184,300.

Existing-home sales in the West increased 5.6 percent in the third quarter to an annual rate of 1.19 million and are 4.6 percent above a year ago.  The median existing single-family home price in the West was $224,000 in the third quarter, which is 16.4 percent below the third quarter of 2008. The best metro price performance in the West was in Yakima, Wash., where the median price of $158,400 rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier; the Denver-Aurora area at $229,100, up 1.8 percent; and the Kennewick-Richland-Pasco area of Washington, where the median price rose 0.7 percent to $172,200.

Source: NAR

Existing-home Sales Rise To 6.10 Million, Up 10.1%

Monday, November 23, 2009

WASHINGTON - Resales of U.S. houses increased 10.1% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.10 million, the National Association of Realtors estimated Monday.

Copyright © 2009 MarketWatch, Inc.

1. Memphis, Tenn. 36 percent
2. Minneapolis, 36 percent
3. Portland, Ore. 36 percent
4. Indianapolis, 36 percent
5. Baltimore, 36 percent
6. Milwaukee, 35 percent
7. Jacksonville, Fla., 35 percent
8. Tucson, Ariz., 34 percent
9. Raleigh, N.C., 33 percent
10. Boston, Mass., 33 percent

Meanwhile, a new study from Zillow.com shows U.S. home buyers inching closer to the asking price when they buy real estate. Buyers paid a median $6,525, or 3 percent, less than the last listing price when they bought a home in August, down from $7,018, or 3.3 percent, less for homes bought in July.

Buyer power peaked in January 2009, when buyers paid 4.5 percent less than the last listing price, a median of $10,096.

Buyers continued to cut prices with 24.7 percent of all homes listed for sale on Zillow.com undergoing at least one listing price reduction from the original price – a median of 6.6 percent – as of Oct. 1, 2009.

Markets where home sellers dropped prices the most compared to the last listing price were:

1. Vero Beach, Fla., 8.9 percent
2. Naples, Fla., 8 percent
3. Sarasota, Fla., 7.9 percent
4. Panama City, Fla., 7.6 percent
5. Daytona Beach, Fla., 7.3 percent
6. Atlantic City, N.J., 7.2 percent
7. Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 7 percent
8. Morristown, Tenn, 6.9 percent
9. Ocala, Fla., 6.5 percent
10. Lakeland, Fla., 6.4 percent

Source: U.S. News & World Report, Luke Mullins, and Zillow.com (10/08/2009)

Economist projects local growth in 2010

By Josh Spilker-October 6, 2009

At the UNCW Economic Outlook Conference, economist Woody Hall forecasted that the growth in southeastern North Carolina will be four percent in 2010, compared to one percent growth in 2009 and 0.75 percent in 2008.

Hall also said that the 9.6 percent unemployment rate is the highest in twenty-five years and that the state as a whole continues to outpace the national rate.

“There is something different with this (recession), than I’ve lived through. That is that the unemployment rate in North Carolina has been higher than the nation,” Hall said.

Hall said that employment in real estate has gone from one in every five jobs to one in every seven, and that home sales are still down.

In a segment about the 2009 economy and 2010 outlook, Tom Simpson, formerly of the Federal Reserve system presented factors for the current recession and what the future holds. Simpson pointed to December 2007 as the beginning of the recession and said that it could have been much worse.

“We could’ve gone down the path of the 1930s,” Simpson said. “But it’s really the Federal Reserve that is responsible for us dodging the bullet.”

Simpson noted that TARP funds given to banks and creating lower interest rates as reasons why the recession hasn’t been any worse.

He also laid out the reasons for the current downturn, including escalating home prices, leveraging and compounding risk and complex securities. Simpson said that he was one of the ones in favor of the securitazation of loans, thinking they would limits risks. “We were wrong," Simpson said simply.

Also, the fairly rapid increase in national unemployment has been surprising as well, as it has doubled since the recession began, he said. “The rise of the unemployment is greater than one would expect,” Simpson said.

Simpson said that signs of life have been found in the commercial banking sector. They are borrowing less in the last three months than they did earlier this year. In commercial real estate, national vacancy rates in the commercial real estate are still high.

Along with keynote speaker Lew Ebert, the president of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the conference featured a panel discussion on local economic industries, with David Swain, of Swain and Associates, Craig Stevens, CEO of Stevens Fine Homes Tracy Meyer, professor of marketing at the Cameron School and Brian McMerty, partner with the Wilmington Group. Each panelist shared about the trends they’re seeing locally.

“I’m bullish on what’s going on in corporate America. Our business has transformed significantly in the past few years,” McMerty said, noting that changing times has led to changing demands such as in the role of a CFO. “The skillsets that companies needed a few years ago are different going forward.”

Swain said that real estate development changed more to larger corporations during the boom times.  “We’re seeing things change so dramatically, it’s hard to keep up with it,” he said. Swain said that he sold properties during the richer times a few years ago, just to have a safety net for when the bottom fell out.

“We held back to see what would happen. Well, it all happened last year,” he said.

Swain said that his company’s small size gives them advantage in adjusting to the marketplace and the he has worked harder on developing personal relationships with merchants and large tenants.

“We have the ability to react to circumstances where the big corporations wont’ have a clue."

Some Housing Analysts Predict Declines in 2010

A new housing price forecast predicts that home values will drop an average of 11.3 percent in 342 out of 381 markets by June 30, 2010.

Financial information and analysis firm Fiserv also predict that prices will stabilize and rise 3.6 percent in 2011.

Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Economy.com, agrees with Fiserv. "I think more price declines are coming because the foreclosure crisis is not over," he says.

Fiserv called Miami the biggest loser, predicting a decline of 29.9 percent by next June. It also predicts large declines in Orlando, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (10/20/2009)

Things Condo Buyers Should Consider

Buyers who are considering the purchase of a condominium should inspect the health of the home owner’s association before they close.

The seller should provide the buyer all financial documents relating to the association in time for an attorney for the buyer to review them before closing.

Here’s some advice from Leonard Baron, professor of finance at San Diego State University, about the information that the seller should consider:

• Does the association budget include money for operating expenses such as water, lights, elevator maintenance, and landscaping?
• Is there extra money set aside in a reserve fund for long-term maintenance? If there is an outside reserve study, that should be provided. If not, there should be adequate money in the reserves right now to cover 50 percent of the estimated cost of repairs over the next 30 years.
• Do the condo’s expenses exceed revenues due to a high foreclosure rate or other reasons that owners’ debts go unpaid?
• If there is a shortfall, does the association have a plan besides cutting back on services for making it up?

Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (10/17/2009)

5 Percent of Americans Plan to Buy a Home Next Year

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

 
NEW YORK  —  Just one in 20 Americans say they plan to buy a home within the next year, and they're most likely to be 34 years old or younger and living in the South or West, according to a survey released Wednesday.

Roughly a quarter of potential buyers said the No. 1 reason they would buy now is because prices appear to have bottomed out. That reason topped bargain-priced foreclosures, worries about rising interest rates and a wide selection of homes.

The survey, conducted for Move.com, a real estate listings site, reveals how Americans are responding to a nascent and fragile housing recovery after three years of staggering price declines. The percentage of buyers thinking of jumping into the market was down slightly from a March survey, but up about 1 point from a poll in June.

Home prices rebounded this summer at an annualized pace of almost 7 percent, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index. But with high unemployment and foreclosures clouding the picture, economists debate whether prices will dip again.

Recent housing figures and homebuilder earnings support a stabilizing housing market, and concerns about the expiration of federal homebuyer tax credit are moot after Congress last week extended and expanded the credit.

Buyers who have owned in their current homes for at least five years are eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500, while first-time homebuyers — or anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years — would still get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.

The survey was conducted before the credit extension.

Those surveyed widely favored federal policies that kept interest rates low and helped troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure over those that helped first-time homebuyers purchase a home. And, overall, 48 percent of those polled didn't think the government was doing enough to stabilize the housing market, whereas 42 percent thought it was.

Forty-five percent of Americans worry that they or someone they know will face foreclosure in the next year. And almost 30 percent of those with a mortgage have contacted their lender in the past year to reduce their payments.

One of the survey participants, Joe Handley of Harrington, Del., called his lender last December to consolidate a second mortgage and cut his interest rate from 6.75 percent to 5.25 percent.

"We wanted to build up our savings for emergencies," the 37-year-old said.

His timing was prescient. In July, Handley, who works in the information technology department for the State of Delaware, took a pay cut and the $400 monthly savings from the new loan has helped cushion the blow.

Almost a quarter of Americans who refinanced their mortgages have used the savings for living expenses or paying down debt, the survey found. Less than 9 percent are putting the savings toward investment or retirement.

The telephone poll, which included about two-thirds homeowners and one-third renters, was conducted in October by market research firm GfK. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Good Housing News Predicted

All the leading indicators say housing is definitely on the mend, economists reported in advance of the official release of several pieces of good news expected this week.

Bloomberg News surveyed 53 economists and asked them where they expected the numbers to fall. Here are their predictions:

• Construction starts in September are expected to hit a 610,000 annual rate, the most since last November.
• Sales of existing homes likely rose to a two-year high.
• Because of fear of a relapse, the Federal Reserve is predicted to leave interest rates low for a few more months.
• Building permits, a sign of future growth, probably rose to a 590,000 annual pace, also the highest level since November, the Commerce Department is likely to announce.
• The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index is expected to rise to 20 from 19, the economists say.

Google Inc. plans to resume hiring and acquisitions after its third-quarter sales beat analysts’ estimates. CFO Patrick Pichette says: “We weathered what is an incredible recession. If you have all this behind you, the only outcome you should have as management is: ‘OK, let’s build now.’”

Source: Bloomberg, Courtney Schlisserman (10/18/2009)

IRS Investigates Home Tax Credit Claims

The Internal Revenue Service is investigating more than 100,000 claims for the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit that may be unjustified or even fraudulent.

The IRS has identified 167 of what it calls “criminal schemes” involving the credit. The IRS refused Monday to elaborate about the problem.

Bonnie Speedy, AARP tax-aide director, blamed the post-closing filing procedures for the problem, saying people who weren’t entitled to the credit could too easily claim it. "People are filing for the credit who don't have a right to file for it," she says.

Some observers say these claims could jeopardize an extension of the tax credit.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, John D. McKinnon (10/20/2009)

RISMEDIA, October 17, 2009—(MCT)—As the weather turns chilly in many parts of the country, homeowners are looking at improvements to help them keep their energy costs down—and the government can help with part of the bill. 

Upgrade your insulation, windows, doors, roofing, heating and air-conditioning system or water heater, and you could qualify for a federal tax credit for 30% of the purchase price of the product—up to a $1,500 maximum credit. The credits can be claimed on a homeowner’s income taxes for 2009 or 2010, whatever year the improvements were purchased. With a credit, the amount comes off any taxes you owe. The credit is nonrefundable, meaning it allows taxpayers to lower their tax liability to zero, but not below zero, according to the Internal Revenue Service. 

“It’s a good time to be thinking about this,” said Ronnie Kweller, spokeswoman for the Alliance to Save Energy. The alliance notes that a more energy-efficient home, along with the lower fuel costs and the mild weather expected for this winter, should make for lower heating bills a blessing for many cash-strapped consumers. 

To qualify for the credit, you must place those purchases in service between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. “The $1,500 cap applies to the aggregate amount of credits claimed in both years combined,” said Robin Christian, senior tax analyst at the tax and accounting business of Thomson Reuters. “Also, only improvements made to your principal residence qualify—vacation homes are not considered.” 

Typically, for more costly improvements—including solar water heaters, solar panels, small wind-energy systems and geo-thermal heat pumps—the credit is for 30% of the purchase price, with no cap, according to the Energy Star website. Fuel cells also are covered, at 30% of the cost, up to $500 per 0.5 kilowatt of power capacity. Credits for these improvements are available through 2016, but you must claim them for the tax year in which you made the purchase. And all but the fuel-cell equipment can be used for a vacation home as well. To qualify for the credits, all of the products must be used inside a home. That means equipment used to heat a pool or hot tub doesn’t qualify, Christian says. 

Also, the federal tax credits don’t always cover the cost of installation. The installation costs for heating and cooling systems and some other higher-cost improvements qualify, according to the Energy Star site. But installation of windows, insulation, doors and roofs doesn’t. The tax-credit rules are different if you are building a new home. In this instance, you can qualify for the credit for some upgrades, including geo-thermal heat pumps, solar panels, solar water heaters, small wind-energy systems and fuel cells. But you won’t get a tax credit for the purchase of windows, doors, insulation, roofs, heating and air-conditioning systems, and nonsolar water heaters, according to the Energy Star site. 

Make sure any products you purchase come with a Manufacturer Certification Statement, a signed statement from the manufacturer that says the product qualifies for the tax credit. You will need that and any receipts when you claim the credit on your taxes. Monica Rebella, a certified public accountant in Tustin, Calif., suggests making a copy of receipts since the print can wear off over time. 

When looking to make a home more energy efficient, consumers typically first turn to insulation and windows. “If you need insulation, that is the most cost-effective upgrade you can make—even without a tax credit,” said Karen Schneider, website manager for Energy Star. “If you have a 50-year-old home and never looked at the insulation, now is the time to do that.” Many insulation projects, such as upgrading or adding insulation in an attic, are easy for do-it-yourselfers, said Michael Chenard, director of environmental affairs for home-improvement store Lowe’s. “Insulation is one of the easiest things to do that is covered by the tax-credit promotion,” he says. Replacing windows also can be done by amateurs, as long as the measurements are accurate, Chenard said. 

The federal tax credit doesn’t cover the cost of installation, says Art Donnelly, of Legacy Builders & Remodelers Corp., on Long Island, N.Y. Still, the credit makes the cost of a more efficient window competitive with a lower-grade window that doesn’t qualify, Donnelly says. And because of the weak economy, it’s also easier to pick up the phone and get an appointment for a window installation today, he adds. 

(c) 2009, MarketWatch.com Inc.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Home Sales Show Growth Against Last September

For the first time in over three years, home sales in the Wilmington, NC area exceeded levels from one year earlier. Based on our market data, home sales last month totaled 396 which is up from 380 in August and up from 374 back in September 2008. This is an encouraging sign that our local market is indeed showing signs of making a full recovery. The average price of homes sold in September also rose to $264,340 compared to $235,528 last year. According to your WRAR President April McDavid, "these two factors may be a result of first-time home buyers rushing to meet the November 30th deadline for the tax credit and indicate that more expensive properties are beginning to sell."