Cary, North Carolina.  California money continues to move South.  The Weston Lakeside Apartment complex in Cary was sold last week to a group headed by American Realty Advisors of Glendale, California.  They paid $45 million for the 332 unit complex which works out to $135,542 per unit. 

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com 

Garner, North Carolina.  It is important for those of you who are investors, or interested in becoming investors, in the Triangle area to keep abreast of what acreage in the various areas of the Triangle sells for.  71 acres off U.S. 401 close to Pinewinds Drive in northwest Garner was just purchase by the WLA Garner Retail LLC for $3.5 million. This subsidiary of WRS Inc. in Aiken, S.C. develops shopping centers for Wal-Mart. 

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Wake County, North Carolina.  When is record appreciation not too much?  Much of the pressure on real estate prices around the country is due to runaway appreciation over a long period of time.  When you consider the growth of the Raleigh, Wake Country and Triangle area markets you would think we must certainly have had that same kind of runaway pricing.  Not so.  The demand for homes has been met by the availability of homes and thus, while we have had good and consistent appreciation we have not had ”galloping” appreciation.  This is one of the factors that causes the Triangle area to be rated, by many, as the number one real esate market and one of the top, if not the top, places to live and work in the U.S.

Stacey Anfindsen (staceypeter@smapublications.com - - website www.smapublications.com)  says, “2006 was a very good year if you owned residential real estate within Wake County.  Our current average appreciation of 4.36% is the highest that it has been in the 15 years that I have been tracking re-sale prices.”  He further states, “My predictions for 2007 would include the average appreication rate for the county passing the 5% mark, re-sale housing located ITB (Inside the Beltline) passing the 8% mark and re-sale housing located in North Raleigh, Falls Lake and CAM (Cary/Apex/Morrisville) passing the 6% mark.”  In my opinion Stacy’s knowledge of the Triangle residential real estate market is second to none.  Thus, while the market for new and resale homes has been and continues to be good, it holds promise of becoming a VERY strong indeed.  The same is also true of the local commercial market.  Is anyone listening?  If so, let me know.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Durham, North Carolina - Motricity, a privately held Durham company, provides technology that assists people in music and ring tones on mobile telephones, graphics and buying and receiving games. Despite their fast growth and the demand for their products, the need to reduce costs has put them in a cost cutting mode that has included the laying off of employees. Enter billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Carl believes in the company to the tune of a $50 million investment in its future. Carl likes the company’s management team and said “They are well positioned for dominance in mobile content, a sector for which we forecast strong growth in the coming years.”

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina.  In a deal just completed, Developers Diversified, an Ohio REIT purchased a 307 property portfolio from the Inland Retail Real Estate Trust.  Of these properties, 12 are shopping centers in Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham and Johnston counties.  The area properties in question are: Chatham Crossing in Siler City      (32,000 square feet), South Square in Durham (89,622 square feet), Meadowmont Village Center in Chapel Hill     (132,857 square feet), Capital Plaza in Wake Forest (46,793 square feet), Clayton Corners in Clayton (125,653 square feet), Sexton Commons in Fuquay-Varina (49,097 square feet), Mill Pond Village in Cary (84,364 square feet), Circuit City in Cary (27,891 square feet), and the Raleigh properties of Alexander Place (143,073 square feet), Eckerd-Perry Creek (10,908 square feet), Capital Crossing (83,248 square feet), and Wakefield Crossing      (75,927 square feet).  This expands Developers Diversified’s portfolion in the Triangle to nearly 2.5 million square feet.

John Fish (919) 696-3474  Email: marvmax@mindspring.com  Website: www.JohnFish.com