Media

Harbour Jazz presents evening of dancing on Friday

Harbour Jazz, a four-piece combo from Craven County, performs an evening of dancing Friday at the Rivertowne Ballroom on Pollock Street.

Bob Dumon, the trumpet player, said the group has been playing for about six years and presents a variety of old classic American Songbook tunes such as Frank Sinatra, as well as jazz classics. For this show, there will also be Latin music and tunes for waltzes.

The band includes Dumon, Bill Green on drums, vocalist Ann Sorocki and Margaret Rose on keyboard.

The program includes recorded music from 7 to 8 p.m. and the band plays from 8 to 10 p.m.

Tickets are $10 per person, available at the Rivertown Ballroom, 305 Pollock St.

Snapshots of the local real estate market for year 2011

While the last few years in real estate have been challenging, a glimpse into our market at the end of this past year offers some evidence that the worst may be behind us.

Overall unit sales have been stable for the past three years, hovering just above 1,200 homes sold.

Planned communities with amenities have historically lured locals and buyers from around the United States; the churn report compares market activity for 2011 in the five established golf course communities in Craven County. The performance tracks fairly evenly: all have taken about the same percentage hit from the peak.

Two much newer communities where the developer/owner is still in charge of sales are Carolina Colours off U.S. 70 and River Dunes in Pamlico County. Ken Kirkman, Carolina Colours developer, says he "has seen good traffic but it continues to be a buyers' market. Volume might edge up, but price will stay as is."

There are now 110 homes up and 350 sites sold. One house and two lots sold in the last 45 days of 2011, and seven custom homes and three specs are under construction.

Ed Mitchell, River Dunes president, reports that the boating lifestyle has attracted a 30-40 percent increase in visitors year over year for the past two years, significantly up from the years of 2008 and 2009. This activity has resulted in more slips being added to the marina, which encourages real estate activity.

"Several homes are either under construction or in architectural review," he said. "We demonstrate the lifestyle to these visitors and stay current with their demands, which do change; for instance, we are seeing some trending to smaller spaces, perhaps a bit less formal overall."

He said he is enthusiastic about the January 2012 traffic to his community.

"People just realize what a great place Eastern North Carolina is to live," he said.

Margaret Rose is a New Bern Realtor.