New single-family building permits are up 23 percent in Wake County through the first four months of the year, according to data compiled by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County.

Permits are up in all Wake County municipalities except Cary, where permits are down 19 percent from the same period a year ago.

The biggest percentage increase has been in Garner, where permits are up from just 6 last year to 38 so far this year.

Permits are up 47 percent in Apex, 38 precent in Raleigh, 64 percent in Holly Springs, 43 percent in Morrisville and 31 percent in Knightdale. 

In a sign that new home construction activity in the Triangle could finally be picking up, the number of single-family building permits issued in Wake County increased 26 percent in the first quarter.

There were 967 permits issued in the first three months of the year in Wake, up from 768 during the same period in 2011, according to data compiled by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County.

Holly Springs and Garner posted the largest percentage increases.

Holly Springs issued 98 percents compared to 56 during the first quarter of 2011, a 75 percent increase. Garner's permit activity jumped 480 percent, from 5 to 29.

Permit activity declined 16 percent in Cary and was up 45 percent in Raleigh. Apex was also a big gainer with a 42 percent increase.

As the number of both new and existing homes has continued to drop in the Triangle, real estate professionals have been waiting for it to correspond to an uptick in new home construction.

There were just 1,603 new homes on the market in March in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show. That was down 27 percent from the same period a year ago and off 40 percent from two years ago.

New home construction has historically been a major source of employment in the Triangle, and the lack of activity has made it harder to bring down the unemployment rate.

The Triangle housing market showed signs of recovery in January with sales, pending sales and showings all up compared to the same period a year ago.

But the market continued to be rough on sellers. The average sales price of the homes that sold was down 7 percent while the percentage of deals that involved financial concessions from the seller increased.

There were 926 homes sold in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties in January, up 7 percent from the same period a year ago, data from Triangle Multiple Listing Services show.

Pending sales were up 30 percent and showings were up 10 percent.
 

Mountain Real Estate Capital, the Charlotte firm that recently bought the debt on the Ramblewood subdivision in Raleigh, has purchased the remaining undeveloped land in the Brightleaf in the Park subdivision in Durham.

Mountain acquired the property from SunTrust Bank for $8.5 million, according to Durham County property records. SunTrust foreclosed on the property last year.

The property includes about 900 single-family and townhouse lots, according to a Mountain release announcing the acquisition.

The company closed on the property back in December.

Mountain's partner on the project is Raleigh-based L Star Development, which specializes in acquiring distressed debt.

The number of new single-family building permits issued in Wake County remained largely flat in 2011, falling 1 percent compared to the prior year.

There were 3,703 new permits issued in the county, according to Wake County data compiled by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County.

The towns that experienced the biggest jump in new permits last year are those poised to benefit from the Interstate 540 extension in western Wake County. Apex, Holly Springs and Morrisville all experienced double-digit growth.

Homebuilders are hoping to have plenty of new inventory on the ground when the toll road is completed in December. The road will greatly reduce commuting times to Research Triangle Park and several other job centers.

Permits increased 56 percent in Holly Springs, 36 percent in Apex and 22 percent in Morrisville.

The two largest municipalities in the county, Raleigh and Cary, both saw the number of new building permits decline. Cary's dropped by 6 percent while Raleigh's fell by 12 percent.

Triangle home sales recent run of double-digit increases continued in November, with sales increasing 11 percent over the same period a year ago.

There were 1,169 homes sold in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties in November, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

Pending sales were up 8 percent while showings declined 3 percent.

The year-over-year comparisons have been strong in recent months in large part because of the influence of the federal homebuyer tax credits. The credits expired at the end of June last year, but sales were depressed for about six months afterward.

The market also continues to benefit from reduced supply.

The number of homes listed for sale in November was 19 percent lower than the same period a year ago.
 

The Coldwell Banker real estate franchises in Wilmington and Raleigh have merged, creating on the state's largest residential brokerage companies.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty of Wilmington and Coldwell Banker Advantage of Raleigh and Fayetteville announced the merger Thursday.

The combined companies will have a sales team of more than 600 agents and 26 sales offices in Raleigh, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Jacksonville and across eastern North Carolina.

“Today’s merger creates the fifth largest Coldwell Banker affiliated company in North America and the number one Coldwell Banker affiliate in North Carolina,” said Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation CEO Jim Gillespie in a statement.

The new company will be led by co-CEOs Tim Milam of Sea Coast Realty and Gary Rabon of Advantage. In Wilmington, it will be called Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage. The company will continue to operate under the Advantage name in Raleigh and Fayetteville.

The Triangle housing market continued to show steady improvement in October, with sales increasing 16 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

A total of 1,240 homes were sold in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties in October, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show. Pending sales were up 11 percent and showings were basically flat, up 1 percent.

The Triangle market has posted double-digit year-over-year increases in recent months, in part because the recent numbers are being compared with a period just after the federal homebuyer tax credits expired.

Those credits expired at the end of June last year, causing sales to drop off immediately afterward.

The Gores Group, the Los Angeles private equity firm that acquired a controlling interest in Stock Building Supply in 2009, is now the sole owner of the Raleigh company.

The firm announced today that it had acquired the remaining 49 percent of Stock that it didn't own from Wolseley Plc for an undisclosed amount.

“We have high expectations for Stock, and this transaction solidifies our position in the company,” said Ryan Wald, managing director of The Gores Group, in a statement.
 

Foreclosure filings in North Carolina were down 23 percent through the first 10 months of the year, a welcome sign given that many predicted filings to spike this year after the controversy over foreclosure documentation.

There were 46,228 total filings in the state for the ten months ending Oct. 31, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.

Filings were also down 21 percent in the Triangle counties of Durham, Johnston and Wake. Filings were down 22 percent in Wake, down 18 percent in Durham and 16 percent in Johnston.