Foreclosure filings in North Carolina increased 7 percent in 2010 as the state continued to deal with fallout from the economic downturn and turmoil in the housing market.

There were 67,854 filings in the state over the last 12 months, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts' year-end report.

In the Triangle, filings declined slightly in Johnston and Durham counties and increased 8 percent in Wake County.

There were 5,584 filings in Wake; 1,172 in Durham; and 1,271 in Johnston.

Filings mark the start of the foreclosure process. Some homeowners will work out repayment plans. Others will lose their homes.

The rise in foreclosure filings is a sign that the problem has spread well beyond subprime borrowers trapped in bad mortgages.

The N.C. Building Code Council voted this morning to adopt stronger energy-efficiency codes for both commercial and residential construction.

In a compromise negotiated by Gov. Bev Perdue’s office, the council agreed to a new code that will require new commercial buildings to be 30 percent more efficient and new homes to be 15 percent more efficient.

The code changes are set to go into effect March 1, 2012.

The council also agreed this morning to review a set of proposed amendments to the residential building code that are designed to offset the costs of the higher energy standards.

The N.C. Home Builders Association has said the additional requirements would burden them because appraisers won’t give them credit for efficiency improvements.

Perdue outlined the compromise in a letter to Dan Tingen, the Building Code Council’s chairman.

“We must find a way to both improve energy efficiency standards in our building code and prevent further economic stress to the housing industry,” Perdue wrote.

The North Carolina Building Code Council will discuss two major issues at its meeting Tuesday morning.

One involves revisions to the state's residential energy efficiency standards; the other would require sprinkler systems in all new townhomes.

A proposal to increase home efficiency by 30 percent has been delayed, revived and rewritten in recent months.

During a meeting last month, the state's home builders were split on whether beefed up energy-efficiency codes for new homes will be good for North Carolina.

The proposal has drawn opposition from some home builders who say they will have to eat the extra cost because appraisers won't give credit for efficiency improvements.

The legislature could reject any plan the Building Code Council approves.

The Building Code Council meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Wake County Commons Building, 4011 Carya Drive, in Raleigh.

Centex Homes is launching the second phase of its Highland Creek subdivision in Raleigh.

The company is holding tours of a new group of model homes this Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. at 4312 Burchard Drive.

The second phase of Highland Creek will include 230 single-family homes and 203 townhouses. It will bring the total number of homes in Highland Creek to more than a thousand on 257 acres.

Townhouses will range from $119,900 to $211,900 in the second phase. Single-family homes will range from $179,900 to $219,900.

Pulte Group merged with Centex last year. Centex focused on starter home priced under $250,000.

The Triangle housing market continued to sputter along in October with sales down sharply from the same period a year ago.

There were 1,067 home sales in October in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties in October, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show.

That was down 40 percent from the same period last year, and off 20 percent from October 2008. Pending sales were down 30 percent from a year ago and off 11 percent from two years ago.

The sharp declines from last year can be partly attributed to the fact that last October many buyers were rushing to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which originally was set to expire Dec. 1.

The fact that the numbers are also well below where the market was in 2008 shows how soft the market has become since the the federal homebuyer tax credits expired.
 

Stock Building Supply has chosen an executive at Tyco Electronics to be its new CEO.

The company announced today the hiring of Jeffrey G. Rea.

Rea, 45, most recently served as president of Tyco Electronics Specialty Products Group. Before joining Tyco, Rea was a senior executive at Johns Manville, a building products group, and spent 15 years with General Electric.

“I am honored to be joining Stock as its CEO," Rea said in a release.

"The Stock leadership team and The Gores Group have done a great job of stabilizing and turning around the company since it was acquired 18 months ago.  I look forward to working with all the Stock employees to deliver exceptional customer support and service while helping the company reach its full potential.”

Rea replaces Joe Appelmann, who took over as CEO in 2007.

Pulte Homes appears to have found a location for its next retirement community in the Triangle.

The homebuilder has filed a rezoning request with the Durham City-County Planning Department for 368 acres off Leesville Road. The property is just east of U.S. 70 near Brier Creek.

The development plan calls for the project to be an active-adult community that would be restricted to people 55 and older.

Lawrence Lane, Pulte's division president in the Triangle, said the company is still working with planning officials on the feasiblity of the site and has not determined how many homes might be included in the project.

Pulte opened a similar community, called Carolina Preserve at Amberly, in Cary in 2006 under the company's Del Webb brand.

The 1,300-lot development still has more than 400 home sites remaining. Lane said Pulte likely wouldn’t open a second active-adult community until Carolina Preserve was sold out.
 

Foreclosure filings in the Triangle continue to outpace last year's levels through the first ten months of this year.

Filings in Durham, Johnston and Wake counties totaled 7,611 through October, up 12 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts' monthly report.

In Wake, there were 552 filings in October, up 14 percent from a year earlier.

Filings in Wake through the first ten months of the year are 15 percent higher than the same period last year. Durham filings are 9 percent higher through October. Johnston filings are up 2 percent.

Pulte Homes, the country's largest homebuilder, has named a new division president for the Triangle.

Lawrence Lane, 39, officially took over for Steve Schlageter on Monday.

Schlageter has been promoted to vice president of strategic planning in the company's Bloomfield Hills, Mich. headquarters.

Lane was previously vice president of finance for Pulte's Southeast division, which included the Triangle.
 

Triangle home sales dropped 27 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year as the market continued to feel the effects of a stalled economic recovery and the absence of federal homebuyer tax credits.

There were 3,834 homes sold in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties during the three months that ended Sept. 30, according to Triangle Multiple Listing Services data.

Showings were off 27 percent and pending sales were down 32 percent.

The supply of houses on the market has also jumped from seven months to 11 months over the past year.

Supply is determined by the time it would take to get through the existing inventory at the current pace of sales.