At long last, the worst recession in America since World War II appears on the verge of ending.
The economy dipped only slightly in the second quarter of this year -- falling at a 1 percent annual pace, better than expected. And many analysts think the economy is starting to grow again in the current quarter, setting up a long-awaited recovery.
Still, any rebound is likely to be restrained by consumers' reluctance to spend. Stressed by rising unemployment, smaller paychecks and shrunken nest eggs, Americans spent less in the second quarter. Without the full strength of consumer spending, which supplies more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, businesses would need to deliver more of the firepower for sustained growth.
Economists say they are hopeful that consumers, aided by the "cash for clunkers" program to boost car sales, eventually will nudge up spending. Over time, that would help stem a still-heavy wave of job losses and stimulate hiring.
"We won't have a recovery as long as we keep losing jobs," President Barack Obama acknowledged Friday.
He added: "Eventually, businesses will start growing again and will start hiring again, and that's when it will truly feel like a recovery to the American people."
The small drop in gross domestic product for the April-to-June period, reported Friday by the Commerce Department, followed a dizzying free fall in the first three months of this year. The economy plunged at an annual rate of 6.4 percent in the first quarter, the worst in nearly three decades.
Including the April-to-June period, the economy has now contracted for a record four straight quarters, for the first time on record dating to 1947. Over that period, companies and ordinary Americans have suffered a painful toll, with job losses still exceeding a net total of 400,000 each month.
Many economists had predicted a slightly worse 1.5 percent annualized contraction in second-quarter GDP, which is considered the best gauge of U.S. economic health. GDP measures the value of all goods and services -- everything from cars, clothes and computers to makeup, manicures and machinery -- produced in the United States.
"The recession seems to be largely over with at this point," said economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "We still have a long way to go to get back to full health."
Behind the better second-quarter performance were other signs of a fading recession: less drastic spending cuts by businesses, a resumption of federal and local government spending and an improved trade picture.
Businesses did end up cutting their stockpiles of goods at a record pace in the second quarter, but that carries a silver lining. With their inventories at rock-bottom, businesses will likely need to ramp up production to meet customer demand. That would stimulate the economy starting in the current quarter. Some economists think growth in the July-to-September quarter could be more vigorous than previously forecast -- possibly 3 percent annual growth or higher.
Obama's stimulus package of tax cuts and increased government spending provided some support to the economy in the second quarter. But it will have more impact in the second half of this year as it extends its reach, economists said.
In the meantime, the damage caused by this recession runs deep.
The figures released Friday provide the most compelling evidence to date that the current recession has been the worst since the Great Depression. It has taken a 3.9 percent bite out of economic activity so far, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. Before this downturn, the most painful hit came in the 1957-58 recession, when GDP fell 3.8 percent, he said.
And in revisions to GDP figures that stretch back to the Great Depression, the Commerce Department now estimates the economy grew just 0.4 percent in 2008. That's much weaker than the 1.1 percent growth the government had earlier estimated.
Even if the recession ends later this year, the job market will remain weak. Companies are expected to keep cutting payroll through the rest of this year. The Fed says unemployment -- now at a 26-year high of 9.5 percent -- will top 10 percent at the end of this year. Businesses won't likely boost hiring until they're certain the recovery has staying power.
In the second quarter, businesses -- including home builders -- continued to cut spending, though not nearly as much as they had earlier. That's one reason the economy didn't contract as much as feared.
Consumers retreated en masse. They sliced spending at a rate of 1.2 percent in the second quarter, after having nudged up purchases at a 0.6 percent pace in the first quarter. In large part, that's because wages and salaries have fallen for the past three quarters.
With people spending less, Americans' savings rate rose sharply -- to 5.2 percent in the second quarter, the highest since 1998. As important as savings is, many economists wish that consumers would save less and spend more right now to help propel the recovery.
"I'm praying, 'God, please don't encourage American households to save a lot more just yet,'" said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
Source: Yahoo! Finance
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Existing Home Sales Rise Across US!
Signs of Change: Existing-Home Sales Rise 3.6% in June
Existing-home sales rose for the third consecutive month with inventory easing and home prices declining less sharply in June, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales-including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops-increased 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in June from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May, but are 0.2% lower than the 4.90 million-unit level in June 2008.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, is hopeful about the gain. “The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country,” he said. “We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions. Despite the rise in closed transactions, many Realtors® are reporting lost sales as a result of new appraisal standards that went into effect May 1 of this year.”
A June survey of NAR members shows 3% experienced at least one lost sale as a result of the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct, with seven out of 10 reporting an increased use of out-of-area appraisers. Seventy percent of NAR appraiser members said consumers were paying higher fees, while 85% report a perceived reduction in appraisal quality.
“Clearly the process needs to be revised, but the most logical approach is to use appraisers with local expertise, industry designations and access to local data, who make a physical examination of the property and use apples-to-apples comparisons with nearby home sales,” Yun said. “In many cases, normal homes are being compared with distressed homes sold at a discount, which often are in subpar condition-this is causing real harm to both buyers and sellers.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.42% in June from 4.86% in May; the rate was 6.32% in June 2008. Mortgage interest rates have trended lower in recent weeks.
Total housing inventory at the end of June fell 0.7% to 3.82 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.8-month supply in May. Raw inventory totals are 14.9% below a year ago.
“This is another hopeful sign-if we can keep the volume of sales above the level of new inventory, prices could stabilize in many areas around the end of the year,” Yun said.An NAR practitioner survey in June showed first-time buyers accounted for 29% of transactions, unchanged from May, and that the number of buyers looking at homes is up nearly 12 percentage points from June 2008.
NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said there are very good opportunities. “Despite some of the challenges, the housing market continues to demonstrate signs of recovery,” he said. “The temporary first-time buyer tax credit is clearly helping people make a decision and is contributing to the overall stimulus impact, but since it’s taking longer to close transactions, many would-be beneficiaries may not be able to take advantage of the credit before the December 1 expiration date. As a consequence, consumers need the expertise of Realtors more than ever to navigate both the obstacles and opportunities in today’s market.”
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $181,800 in June, which is 15.4% below June 2008. Distressed properties, which accounted for 31% of sales in June, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.
Single-family home sales rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.32 million in June from a level of 4.22 million in May, and are 0.2% higher than the 4.31 million-unit pace a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $181,600 in June, which is 15.0% below June 2008.
Existing condominium and co-op sales jumped 14.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 570,000 units in June from 500,000 in May, but are 3.1% below the 588,000-unit level in June 2008. The median existing condo price was $183,300 in June, down 18.9% from a year ago.
NortheastRegionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 2.5% to an annual pace of 820,000 in June, but are 4.7% below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $249,400, down 5.9% from June 2008.
Midwest
Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 0.9% in June to a level of 1.10 million but are 1.8% lower than June 2008. The median price in the Midwest was $157,000, which is 9.1% below a year ago.
South
In the South, existing-home sales rose 4.0% to an annual pace of 1.81 million in June but are 3.7% below a year ago. The median price in the South was $163,200, down 11.9% from June 2008.
West
Existing-home sales in the West improved by 6.4% to an annual rate of 1.16 million in June, and are 11.5% higher than June 2008. The median price in the West was $214,800, which is 24.9% below a year ago.
Source: www.RealEstateBook.com
Existing-home sales rose for the third consecutive month with inventory easing and home prices declining less sharply in June, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales-including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops-increased 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in June from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May, but are 0.2% lower than the 4.90 million-unit level in June 2008.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, is hopeful about the gain. “The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country,” he said. “We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions. Despite the rise in closed transactions, many Realtors® are reporting lost sales as a result of new appraisal standards that went into effect May 1 of this year.”
A June survey of NAR members shows 3% experienced at least one lost sale as a result of the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct, with seven out of 10 reporting an increased use of out-of-area appraisers. Seventy percent of NAR appraiser members said consumers were paying higher fees, while 85% report a perceived reduction in appraisal quality.
“Clearly the process needs to be revised, but the most logical approach is to use appraisers with local expertise, industry designations and access to local data, who make a physical examination of the property and use apples-to-apples comparisons with nearby home sales,” Yun said. “In many cases, normal homes are being compared with distressed homes sold at a discount, which often are in subpar condition-this is causing real harm to both buyers and sellers.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.42% in June from 4.86% in May; the rate was 6.32% in June 2008. Mortgage interest rates have trended lower in recent weeks.
Total housing inventory at the end of June fell 0.7% to 3.82 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.8-month supply in May. Raw inventory totals are 14.9% below a year ago.
“This is another hopeful sign-if we can keep the volume of sales above the level of new inventory, prices could stabilize in many areas around the end of the year,” Yun said.An NAR practitioner survey in June showed first-time buyers accounted for 29% of transactions, unchanged from May, and that the number of buyers looking at homes is up nearly 12 percentage points from June 2008.
NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said there are very good opportunities. “Despite some of the challenges, the housing market continues to demonstrate signs of recovery,” he said. “The temporary first-time buyer tax credit is clearly helping people make a decision and is contributing to the overall stimulus impact, but since it’s taking longer to close transactions, many would-be beneficiaries may not be able to take advantage of the credit before the December 1 expiration date. As a consequence, consumers need the expertise of Realtors more than ever to navigate both the obstacles and opportunities in today’s market.”
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $181,800 in June, which is 15.4% below June 2008. Distressed properties, which accounted for 31% of sales in June, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.
Single-family home sales rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.32 million in June from a level of 4.22 million in May, and are 0.2% higher than the 4.31 million-unit pace a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $181,600 in June, which is 15.0% below June 2008.
Existing condominium and co-op sales jumped 14.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 570,000 units in June from 500,000 in May, but are 3.1% below the 588,000-unit level in June 2008. The median existing condo price was $183,300 in June, down 18.9% from a year ago.
NortheastRegionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 2.5% to an annual pace of 820,000 in June, but are 4.7% below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $249,400, down 5.9% from June 2008.
Midwest
Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 0.9% in June to a level of 1.10 million but are 1.8% lower than June 2008. The median price in the Midwest was $157,000, which is 9.1% below a year ago.
South
In the South, existing-home sales rose 4.0% to an annual pace of 1.81 million in June but are 3.7% below a year ago. The median price in the South was $163,200, down 11.9% from June 2008.
West
Existing-home sales in the West improved by 6.4% to an annual rate of 1.16 million in June, and are 11.5% higher than June 2008. The median price in the West was $214,800, which is 24.9% below a year ago.
Source: www.RealEstateBook.com
Friday, July 10, 2009
Cary, Raleigh & Durham Top the Growth Charts!
Cary, Raleigh and Durham cracked the top 25 fastest growing cities list in the U.S. in 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Estimates for the year between July 1, 2007 and July 1, 2008 showed Cary’s population surging 6.9 percent to 129,545 earning it the third spot on the list. Raleigh, meanwhile, ranked eighth with an increase of 3.8 percent to 392,552. Durham came in 16th with 3 percent growth pushing its population to 223,284.
Source: WRAL.com
Estimates for the year between July 1, 2007 and July 1, 2008 showed Cary’s population surging 6.9 percent to 129,545 earning it the third spot on the list. Raleigh, meanwhile, ranked eighth with an increase of 3.8 percent to 392,552. Durham came in 16th with 3 percent growth pushing its population to 223,284.
Source: WRAL.com
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
2008 was a significant year of growth!
Raleigh and Cary were among the 10 fastest-growing cities in the nation last year.
As of July 2008, Cary ranked third among cities with 100,000 people or more. Its growth rate of nearly 7 percent came in behind only New Orleans and Round Rock, Texas, near Austin.
Raleigh ranked eighth, with a growth rate of 3.8 percent.
Small towns get bigger
Raleigh and Cary topped the growth charts among large cities with at least 100,000 people, but when cities of all sizes are included, the smaller towns come out on top in North Carolina. Here are the fastest-growing municipalities in the state, as of July 2008:
Rolesville, 23.7%
Brunswick, 18.1%
Watha, 12.7%
Carolina Shores, 11.6%
Fuquay-Varina, 11.5%
Knightdale, 9.2%
Holly Ridge, 8.9%
Wake Forest, 7.3%
Cary, 6.9%
Davidson, 6.8%
Clayton, 6.5%
Fairview, 6.3%
Holly Springs, 6.2%
Garner, 5.9%
Unionville, 5.5%
Marvin, 5.4%
Mineral Springs, 5.3%
Zebulon, 5.2%
St. James, 5.2%
St. Helena, 5.1%
Source: News and Observer
As of July 2008, Cary ranked third among cities with 100,000 people or more. Its growth rate of nearly 7 percent came in behind only New Orleans and Round Rock, Texas, near Austin.
Raleigh ranked eighth, with a growth rate of 3.8 percent.
Small towns get bigger
Raleigh and Cary topped the growth charts among large cities with at least 100,000 people, but when cities of all sizes are included, the smaller towns come out on top in North Carolina. Here are the fastest-growing municipalities in the state, as of July 2008:
Rolesville, 23.7%
Brunswick, 18.1%
Watha, 12.7%
Carolina Shores, 11.6%
Fuquay-Varina, 11.5%
Knightdale, 9.2%
Holly Ridge, 8.9%
Wake Forest, 7.3%
Cary, 6.9%
Davidson, 6.8%
Clayton, 6.5%
Fairview, 6.3%
Holly Springs, 6.2%
Garner, 5.9%
Unionville, 5.5%
Marvin, 5.4%
Mineral Springs, 5.3%
Zebulon, 5.2%
St. James, 5.2%
St. Helena, 5.1%
Source: News and Observer
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Positive News For Our Rebounding Economy
The most bearish of Wall Street economic analysts have made the same point for the past 18 months. There's no recovery or rebound in the housing market, they said, until home builders start building again.
"Show us positive numbers on new home starts for a few months," they say, "and then we will we agree that the housing market has finally turned around."
Hey there bears, here are the numbers you asked for: Last week the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large increase in new single family home starts during May - up by seven and a half percent.
That was the THIRD consecutive monthly gain in single family starts. Total starts, including multifamily apartment starts and condos, were up by 17 and a half percent!! Not only were starts up a lot, but so were other key indicators of future home building activity: single family permits, which surged by about 8 percent. That was the second straight monthly gain in permits - and points to at least moderately higher starts in the coming six months to a year.
On top of the good news about new construction, which has clearly been the weakest segment of the housing market since 2007, we also got some other positive reports last week:
Consumer confidence, which is extremely important for home buying, was up again for the fourth consecutive month, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey.
Even retail sales were up slightly -- and that's an important sign that people are slowly coming out of the shell they've been in since last Fall, and are now starting to spend money again.
The latest inflation readings -- both the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index -- were down slightly in May. Despite rising gas price, a dollar bought a little more in goods and services last month than the month before. That's good.
The National Association of Home Builders now projects that the current recession will end in the second half of 2009, with a one point five percent growth rate in the overall economy between July and December.
Finally, mortgage rates took a slight dip last week after several weeks of increases. Fixed thirty year rates averaged about 5.5 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, after climbing to 5.6 percent the previous week.
Many lenders had actually been quoting much higher rates - all the way to 6 percent - because of inflation fears in the bond market. We've definitely got to keep our eye on mortgage rates, but otherwise the rebound appears to be underway.
Source: Yahoo Real Estate
"Show us positive numbers on new home starts for a few months," they say, "and then we will we agree that the housing market has finally turned around."
Hey there bears, here are the numbers you asked for: Last week the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large increase in new single family home starts during May - up by seven and a half percent.
That was the THIRD consecutive monthly gain in single family starts. Total starts, including multifamily apartment starts and condos, were up by 17 and a half percent!! Not only were starts up a lot, but so were other key indicators of future home building activity: single family permits, which surged by about 8 percent. That was the second straight monthly gain in permits - and points to at least moderately higher starts in the coming six months to a year.
On top of the good news about new construction, which has clearly been the weakest segment of the housing market since 2007, we also got some other positive reports last week:
Consumer confidence, which is extremely important for home buying, was up again for the fourth consecutive month, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey.
Even retail sales were up slightly -- and that's an important sign that people are slowly coming out of the shell they've been in since last Fall, and are now starting to spend money again.
The latest inflation readings -- both the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index -- were down slightly in May. Despite rising gas price, a dollar bought a little more in goods and services last month than the month before. That's good.
The National Association of Home Builders now projects that the current recession will end in the second half of 2009, with a one point five percent growth rate in the overall economy between July and December.
Finally, mortgage rates took a slight dip last week after several weeks of increases. Fixed thirty year rates averaged about 5.5 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, after climbing to 5.6 percent the previous week.
Many lenders had actually been quoting much higher rates - all the way to 6 percent - because of inflation fears in the bond market. We've definitely got to keep our eye on mortgage rates, but otherwise the rebound appears to be underway.
Source: Yahoo Real Estate
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Triangle to Grow Rapidly in the Coming Years
A recent article projects amazing growth for the Triangle in the coming years...
Joe Lanier is no stranger to the Triangle. He grew up in Sanford and received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After law school, Lanier moved to the Washington, D.C., area, where he stayed for the next dozen years – starting both his career and a family. But he never forgot about his roots in the Triangle, which grew bigger and more sophisticated in his absence.
Last year, Lanier and his wife, Amy, decided that Raleigh’s mix of big-city opportunities and small-town Southern living was too good to pass up. They left Alexandria, Va., in December so he could take a job at the local office of the law firm SZD Wicker.
“To us, this is the best of both worlds,” says Lanier, who now lives with his wife and three young children in Raleigh.
Research conducted by Triangle Business Journal’s parent company shows that Lanier and his family will have a lot of new neighbors moving into the area over the next decade and a half. Using federal data, Charlotte-based American City Business Journals projects that the three-county Raleigh-Cary metro area will be the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country in the period that began in 2005 and ends in 2025.
During that period, ACBJ says, the Raleigh-Cary population will explode from 953,093, to almost 1.9 million – nearly a 100 percent increase, or a growth of 3.5 percent per year. Based on the ACBJ projections, Raleigh will rise from being the country’s 51st largest metro area to its 38th largest in 2025.
ACBJ projects that the second-fastest growing metro over that period will be Provo, Utah, followed by Fort Myers, Fla.; Ocala, Fla., and Austin, Texas. Other projected fast-growing North Carolina metros are Charlotte, No. 8 on the growth list with a projected 75 percent increase in its population, and Wilmington, at No. 18.
The four-county Durham metro is projected to increase its population by 32 percent, to 604,663, in 2025. That would make it the 62nd fastest growing area in the country.
All of those potential new residents have local leaders thinking hard about the infrastructure that will need to be added over the next two decades.
“We’re attempting to get ready ... we’re not ready yet,” says Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker. He says the most recent draft of the city’s comprehensive plan, which is updated every 20 years, focuses on encouraging developers and planners to build up – not out.
Meeker thinks that a key to combating sprawl is improving transit, both through additional bus service and the construction of a rail system. He wants to make sure the area can grow without choking on traffic.
That’s a problem that Lanier encountered in Alexandria. He says his eight-mile commute to work in the morning sometimes took as long as an hour. Lanier now can get to work in 15 minutes.
Wake County Commissioner Joe Bryan points to efforts in the works that are designed to improve the area’s transportation infrastructure, such as the Triangle Expressway toll road and a proposal in the General Assembly that would create funding for local transit expansion. And he points out that citizens have stepped up to the infrastructure plate in years past by approving bond issuances related to education, libraries and open space.
Robert Parten moved to the area from West Palm Beach, Fla., in late January. “The quality of life is better here, that’s for sure,” says Parten, who works in IT support at PortBridge Internet in Cary.
Sourced from: Triangle Business Journal June 12, 2009
As always, for any questions about your real estate needs, reach out to us.
We're here to help.
Chuck Hinton (919) 422-4841 (919) 469-6504
Cindy Leonard (919) 868-4661 (919) 469-6505
http://www.chuckandcindy.com/
Joe Lanier is no stranger to the Triangle. He grew up in Sanford and received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After law school, Lanier moved to the Washington, D.C., area, where he stayed for the next dozen years – starting both his career and a family. But he never forgot about his roots in the Triangle, which grew bigger and more sophisticated in his absence.
Last year, Lanier and his wife, Amy, decided that Raleigh’s mix of big-city opportunities and small-town Southern living was too good to pass up. They left Alexandria, Va., in December so he could take a job at the local office of the law firm SZD Wicker.
“To us, this is the best of both worlds,” says Lanier, who now lives with his wife and three young children in Raleigh.
Research conducted by Triangle Business Journal’s parent company shows that Lanier and his family will have a lot of new neighbors moving into the area over the next decade and a half. Using federal data, Charlotte-based American City Business Journals projects that the three-county Raleigh-Cary metro area will be the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country in the period that began in 2005 and ends in 2025.
During that period, ACBJ says, the Raleigh-Cary population will explode from 953,093, to almost 1.9 million – nearly a 100 percent increase, or a growth of 3.5 percent per year. Based on the ACBJ projections, Raleigh will rise from being the country’s 51st largest metro area to its 38th largest in 2025.
ACBJ projects that the second-fastest growing metro over that period will be Provo, Utah, followed by Fort Myers, Fla.; Ocala, Fla., and Austin, Texas. Other projected fast-growing North Carolina metros are Charlotte, No. 8 on the growth list with a projected 75 percent increase in its population, and Wilmington, at No. 18.
The four-county Durham metro is projected to increase its population by 32 percent, to 604,663, in 2025. That would make it the 62nd fastest growing area in the country.
All of those potential new residents have local leaders thinking hard about the infrastructure that will need to be added over the next two decades.
“We’re attempting to get ready ... we’re not ready yet,” says Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker. He says the most recent draft of the city’s comprehensive plan, which is updated every 20 years, focuses on encouraging developers and planners to build up – not out.
Meeker thinks that a key to combating sprawl is improving transit, both through additional bus service and the construction of a rail system. He wants to make sure the area can grow without choking on traffic.
That’s a problem that Lanier encountered in Alexandria. He says his eight-mile commute to work in the morning sometimes took as long as an hour. Lanier now can get to work in 15 minutes.
Wake County Commissioner Joe Bryan points to efforts in the works that are designed to improve the area’s transportation infrastructure, such as the Triangle Expressway toll road and a proposal in the General Assembly that would create funding for local transit expansion. And he points out that citizens have stepped up to the infrastructure plate in years past by approving bond issuances related to education, libraries and open space.
Robert Parten moved to the area from West Palm Beach, Fla., in late January. “The quality of life is better here, that’s for sure,” says Parten, who works in IT support at PortBridge Internet in Cary.
Sourced from: Triangle Business Journal June 12, 2009
As always, for any questions about your real estate needs, reach out to us.
We're here to help.
Chuck Hinton (919) 422-4841 (919) 469-6504
Cindy Leonard (919) 868-4661 (919) 469-6505
http://www.chuckandcindy.com/
Friday, June 12, 2009
A New York Times Writer Spends 36 Hours in RTP...
Tell North Carolinians you’re heading to the Research Triangle, and they’ll probably ask “Which school are you visiting?” Yet the close-knit cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are marked by more than college bars and hoops fans. Visitors not bound for Duke, the University of North Carolina or North Carolina State come to see buzz-worthy bands, dine on food from farm-worshiping chefs and explore outdoor art. From its biscuits to its boutiques, the Triangle occupies a happy place between slow-paced Southern charm and urban cool.
Friday
3 p.m.
1) ART INSIDE OUT
Anyone who has visited the Met or the Getty might scoff at the relatively succinct collection at the North Carolina Museum of Art (2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh; 919-839-6262; www.ncartmuseum.org). But the lack of tour bus crowds means unfettered access to the Old Masters and contemporary heavyweights like Anselm Kiefer. The real treat is the adjacent Museum Park, more than 164 acres of open fields and woodlands punctuated by environmental art like Cloud Chamber, a stone hut that acts as a camera obscura, with a small hole in the roof projecting inverted, otherworldly images of slowly swaying trees on the floor and walls.
5 p.m.
2) TOWER OF BAUBLE
There’s no pigeonholing the eclectic wares in this four-story indie minimall collectively known as Father & Son Antiques (107 West Hargett Street, Raleigh; 919-832-3030), and including Southern Swank and 2nd Floor Vintage. The organizing principle, if there is one, might be high design meets kitschy Americana, as the intermingling of vintage disco dresses ($18), Mexican wrestling masks ($20) and Eames aluminum group chairs ($250 to $500) attests.
7 p.m.
3) UPSCALE DINER
Memorable meals are easy to come by in the Triangle owing to its high concentration of accomplished, produce-fondling chefs like Ashley Christensen. She left one of the area’s top kitchens to open Poole’s Downtown Diner (426 South McDowell Street, Raleigh; 919-832-4477; www.poolesdowntowndiner.com) in a space that began as a 1940s pie shop. Diners sitting in the bright-red booths dig into Christensen’s low-pretense, high-flavor dishes, like a starter of lovably sloppy fried green tomatoes crowned with local pork smoked over cherry wood ($11), and the Royale ($13), an almost spherical hunk of ground-in-house chuck roll seared in duck fat, topped with cheese and perched on a slice of grilled brioche.
10 p.m.
4) CHEERS TO THE CHIEF
For most bars, a popular politician’s visit would be a game-changing boon. But the Raleigh Times Bar (14 East Hargett Street, Raleigh; 919-833-0999; www.raleightimesbar.com) was packed well before Barack Obama showed up the day of the state’s Democratic primary. The owner, Greg Hatem, painstakingly restored the century-old building that once housed its namesake newspaper and decorated the walls with old newspaper clippings, paperboy bags and other artifacts from the defunct daily. Mr. Obama bought a $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon (and left an $18 tip), but anyone not campaigning might choose one of the more than 100 other beers ($1 to $68), including esoteric Belgians and local brews you won’t find elsewhere.
Saturday
10:30 a.m.
5) ECO JUNK
The Scrap Exchange (548 Foster Street, Durham; 919-688-6960; www.scrapexchange.org) is a “nonprofit creative reuse center” specializing in industrial discards or, for those not versed in eco-jargon, a bazaar of modestly priced former junk donated by Carolinians and scavenged from local businesses that include a hosiery mill, a zipper factory and a parachute plant. Even if you’re not one of the giddy artists, teachers or theater producers who comb for utilitarian treasures, plan to spend at least an hour rummaging in a cool-struck trance through test tubes (20 cents to $1), empty fire extinguishers ($3 to $5) and swaths of double-knit polyester ($1 a yard).
Noon
6) TACO TIME
Anyone not on a hunt for serious Mexican food might drive past Taqueria La Vaquita (2700 Chapel Hill Road, Durham; 919-402-0209; www.lavaquitanc.com), an unassuming freestanding structure with a plastic cow on its roof, just five minutes from Duke’s campus. But if you did, you’d miss tacos ($2.19) made with house-made corn tortillas, uncommonly delicate discs topped with exceptional barbacoa de res (slow-cooked beef) or carnitas (braised-then-fried pork) that you eat at one of the picnic tables out front.
2 p.m.
7) RIVER WALK
One of the Triangle’s charms is that its urban trappings are so easy to escape. A 10-mile drive from downtown Durham brings you to Eno River State Park (6101 Cole Mill Road, Durham; 919-383-1686; www.ncparks.gov). Its trails pass through swaying pines and follow the river past patches of delicate purple-and-yellow wildflowers and turtles sunning themselves on low branches in the water.
5 p.m.
8) GOING WHOLE HOG
Small towns and back roads, not cities, have a monopoly on great barbecue. What makes the Pit (328 West Davie Street, Raleigh; 919-890-4500; www.thepit-raleigh.com) a striking exception is Ed Mitchell, the legendary master of the eastern North Carolina art form of whole hog cooking. Now instead of trekking 100 miles to porcine meccas like Ayden and Lexington, you can dig into pilgrimage-worthy chopped or pulled pork — made from pigs purchased from family farms and cooked for 10 to 14 hours over coals and hickory or oak — just a short stroll from the Capitol Building. A chopped barbecued pork plate with two sides and greaseless hush puppies costs $12.
7 p.m.
9) ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM
The Triangle is college basketball country, home to two of the winningest teams and some of the most rabid fans in N.C.A.A. history. But soon after the madness of March, the more tranquil local baseball fans stream into the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (409 Blackwell Street, Durham; 919-687-6500; www.dbulls.com). The Bulls, founded in 1902 as the Tobacconists, recently became the Tampa Bay Rays’ AAA affiliate. The major league-quality play comes at minor league prices ($7 to $9 a ticket).
10 p.m.
10) BIG BANDS
Nirvana played at the Cat’s Cradle (300 East Main Street, Carrboro; 919-967-9053; www.catscradle.com) for the first time in pre-“Nevermind” 1990 to about 100 people. A year later Pearl Jam played to three times as many, filling just half the standing-room-only space. This summer the Cradle, just a mile from downtown Chapel Hill, hosts acts like Akron/Family and Camera Obscura that probably won’t be playing for such small crowds for long. Ticket prices vary but $15 is about average.
Sunday
10 a.m.
11) DRIVE-THRU BISCUITS
There are several places in Chapel Hill that serve a distinguished Southern breakfast. Diners linger over gravy-smothered pork chops and eggs at Mama Dip’s (408 West Rosemary Street; 919-942-5837; www.mamadips.com) and peerless shrimp and grits at Crook’s Corner (610 West Franklin Street; 919-929-7643; www.crookscorner.com). But for a morning meal on the go that’s equally unforgettable, roll up to the drive-through-only Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen (1305 East Franklin Street; 919-933-1324), where the iced tea is tooth-achingly sweet and the main course is fluffy, buttery and filled with salty country ham ($2.02) or crisp fried chicken ($3.40).
THE BASICS
Several airlines offer flights between the New York area airports and Raleigh-Durham International Airport for as low as $150, according to a recent online search. Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill are 20 to 40 minutes apart from one another and public transportation is infrequent, so if you’re planning to visit at least two points on the Triangle, you should rent a car.
The 150-room Umstead Hotel and Spa (100 Woodland Pond, Cary; 866-877-4141; www.theumstead.com), about 15 minutes from downtown Raleigh, has a pool, an elegant adjoining restaurant called Herons and an on-premises spa that offers massages and facial treatments. Doubles are $249 to $399 (there’s often a two-night minimum).
Whether you stay in one of the seven impeccable rooms, garden cottage (complete with a porch swing) or 1700s-style log cabin at Arrowhead Inn (106 Mason Road; 919-477-8430; www.arrowheadinn.com), 10 miles from downtown Durham, you’ll enjoy imaginative breakfasts made by a co-owner, Phil Teber, and have access to six acres of manicured lawns, gardens and magnolia trees. Weekend rates start at $150 for a room with a fireplace and double bed and reach $325 for the Carolina Log Cabin.
The Carolina Inn (211 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill; 800-962-8519; www.carolinainn.com) is not your typical on-campus hotel. In-room massages, dry cleaning service and a lobby whose Southern grandeur extends to the hotel’s 184 rooms make it much more than just convenient lodging for parents visiting the University of North Carolina. Rates start at $168.
Source: New York Times
Friday
3 p.m.
1) ART INSIDE OUT
Anyone who has visited the Met or the Getty might scoff at the relatively succinct collection at the North Carolina Museum of Art (2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh; 919-839-6262; www.ncartmuseum.org). But the lack of tour bus crowds means unfettered access to the Old Masters and contemporary heavyweights like Anselm Kiefer. The real treat is the adjacent Museum Park, more than 164 acres of open fields and woodlands punctuated by environmental art like Cloud Chamber, a stone hut that acts as a camera obscura, with a small hole in the roof projecting inverted, otherworldly images of slowly swaying trees on the floor and walls.
5 p.m.
2) TOWER OF BAUBLE
There’s no pigeonholing the eclectic wares in this four-story indie minimall collectively known as Father & Son Antiques (107 West Hargett Street, Raleigh; 919-832-3030), and including Southern Swank and 2nd Floor Vintage. The organizing principle, if there is one, might be high design meets kitschy Americana, as the intermingling of vintage disco dresses ($18), Mexican wrestling masks ($20) and Eames aluminum group chairs ($250 to $500) attests.
7 p.m.
3) UPSCALE DINER
Memorable meals are easy to come by in the Triangle owing to its high concentration of accomplished, produce-fondling chefs like Ashley Christensen. She left one of the area’s top kitchens to open Poole’s Downtown Diner (426 South McDowell Street, Raleigh; 919-832-4477; www.poolesdowntowndiner.com) in a space that began as a 1940s pie shop. Diners sitting in the bright-red booths dig into Christensen’s low-pretense, high-flavor dishes, like a starter of lovably sloppy fried green tomatoes crowned with local pork smoked over cherry wood ($11), and the Royale ($13), an almost spherical hunk of ground-in-house chuck roll seared in duck fat, topped with cheese and perched on a slice of grilled brioche.
10 p.m.
4) CHEERS TO THE CHIEF
For most bars, a popular politician’s visit would be a game-changing boon. But the Raleigh Times Bar (14 East Hargett Street, Raleigh; 919-833-0999; www.raleightimesbar.com) was packed well before Barack Obama showed up the day of the state’s Democratic primary. The owner, Greg Hatem, painstakingly restored the century-old building that once housed its namesake newspaper and decorated the walls with old newspaper clippings, paperboy bags and other artifacts from the defunct daily. Mr. Obama bought a $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon (and left an $18 tip), but anyone not campaigning might choose one of the more than 100 other beers ($1 to $68), including esoteric Belgians and local brews you won’t find elsewhere.
Saturday
10:30 a.m.
5) ECO JUNK
The Scrap Exchange (548 Foster Street, Durham; 919-688-6960; www.scrapexchange.org) is a “nonprofit creative reuse center” specializing in industrial discards or, for those not versed in eco-jargon, a bazaar of modestly priced former junk donated by Carolinians and scavenged from local businesses that include a hosiery mill, a zipper factory and a parachute plant. Even if you’re not one of the giddy artists, teachers or theater producers who comb for utilitarian treasures, plan to spend at least an hour rummaging in a cool-struck trance through test tubes (20 cents to $1), empty fire extinguishers ($3 to $5) and swaths of double-knit polyester ($1 a yard).
Noon
6) TACO TIME
Anyone not on a hunt for serious Mexican food might drive past Taqueria La Vaquita (2700 Chapel Hill Road, Durham; 919-402-0209; www.lavaquitanc.com), an unassuming freestanding structure with a plastic cow on its roof, just five minutes from Duke’s campus. But if you did, you’d miss tacos ($2.19) made with house-made corn tortillas, uncommonly delicate discs topped with exceptional barbacoa de res (slow-cooked beef) or carnitas (braised-then-fried pork) that you eat at one of the picnic tables out front.
2 p.m.
7) RIVER WALK
One of the Triangle’s charms is that its urban trappings are so easy to escape. A 10-mile drive from downtown Durham brings you to Eno River State Park (6101 Cole Mill Road, Durham; 919-383-1686; www.ncparks.gov). Its trails pass through swaying pines and follow the river past patches of delicate purple-and-yellow wildflowers and turtles sunning themselves on low branches in the water.
5 p.m.
8) GOING WHOLE HOG
Small towns and back roads, not cities, have a monopoly on great barbecue. What makes the Pit (328 West Davie Street, Raleigh; 919-890-4500; www.thepit-raleigh.com) a striking exception is Ed Mitchell, the legendary master of the eastern North Carolina art form of whole hog cooking. Now instead of trekking 100 miles to porcine meccas like Ayden and Lexington, you can dig into pilgrimage-worthy chopped or pulled pork — made from pigs purchased from family farms and cooked for 10 to 14 hours over coals and hickory or oak — just a short stroll from the Capitol Building. A chopped barbecued pork plate with two sides and greaseless hush puppies costs $12.
7 p.m.
9) ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM
The Triangle is college basketball country, home to two of the winningest teams and some of the most rabid fans in N.C.A.A. history. But soon after the madness of March, the more tranquil local baseball fans stream into the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (409 Blackwell Street, Durham; 919-687-6500; www.dbulls.com). The Bulls, founded in 1902 as the Tobacconists, recently became the Tampa Bay Rays’ AAA affiliate. The major league-quality play comes at minor league prices ($7 to $9 a ticket).
10 p.m.
10) BIG BANDS
Nirvana played at the Cat’s Cradle (300 East Main Street, Carrboro; 919-967-9053; www.catscradle.com) for the first time in pre-“Nevermind” 1990 to about 100 people. A year later Pearl Jam played to three times as many, filling just half the standing-room-only space. This summer the Cradle, just a mile from downtown Chapel Hill, hosts acts like Akron/Family and Camera Obscura that probably won’t be playing for such small crowds for long. Ticket prices vary but $15 is about average.
Sunday
10 a.m.
11) DRIVE-THRU BISCUITS
There are several places in Chapel Hill that serve a distinguished Southern breakfast. Diners linger over gravy-smothered pork chops and eggs at Mama Dip’s (408 West Rosemary Street; 919-942-5837; www.mamadips.com) and peerless shrimp and grits at Crook’s Corner (610 West Franklin Street; 919-929-7643; www.crookscorner.com). But for a morning meal on the go that’s equally unforgettable, roll up to the drive-through-only Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen (1305 East Franklin Street; 919-933-1324), where the iced tea is tooth-achingly sweet and the main course is fluffy, buttery and filled with salty country ham ($2.02) or crisp fried chicken ($3.40).
THE BASICS
Several airlines offer flights between the New York area airports and Raleigh-Durham International Airport for as low as $150, according to a recent online search. Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill are 20 to 40 minutes apart from one another and public transportation is infrequent, so if you’re planning to visit at least two points on the Triangle, you should rent a car.
The 150-room Umstead Hotel and Spa (100 Woodland Pond, Cary; 866-877-4141; www.theumstead.com), about 15 minutes from downtown Raleigh, has a pool, an elegant adjoining restaurant called Herons and an on-premises spa that offers massages and facial treatments. Doubles are $249 to $399 (there’s often a two-night minimum).
Whether you stay in one of the seven impeccable rooms, garden cottage (complete with a porch swing) or 1700s-style log cabin at Arrowhead Inn (106 Mason Road; 919-477-8430; www.arrowheadinn.com), 10 miles from downtown Durham, you’ll enjoy imaginative breakfasts made by a co-owner, Phil Teber, and have access to six acres of manicured lawns, gardens and magnolia trees. Weekend rates start at $150 for a room with a fireplace and double bed and reach $325 for the Carolina Log Cabin.
The Carolina Inn (211 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill; 800-962-8519; www.carolinainn.com) is not your typical on-campus hotel. In-room massages, dry cleaning service and a lobby whose Southern grandeur extends to the hotel’s 184 rooms make it much more than just convenient lodging for parents visiting the University of North Carolina. Rates start at $168.
Source: New York Times
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